Jon Gray Struggles, Loses Velocity
6 years agoColorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray was hit hard once again on Thursday, and this bad outing came with a notable velocity drop as well. After the game, Gray expressed that he wasn't concerned about the velocity drop, so at least there's the possibility that he's not suffering from a nagging injury (though he could obviously be lying to the media). Gray was averaging 95.9 MPH on his fastball this season prior to Thursday's start, but he averaged just 94 MPH against the Giants. Gray's biggest problem this season seems to be that his mistakes are huge ones. His K/9 is the highest it's ever been, especially recently when he's averaged 15.55 strikeouts per nine innings in his last four starts. However, an incredible 36.4% of fly balls he's surrendered in those four starts have left the park, and only one of those starts was at the Denver launching pad. If he can find a way to miss his spots more reasonably, Gray could end up being one of the most effective pitchers in the league, but between his catastrophic failures and velocity issue, he should be benched for the foreseeable future.
Source: Thomas Harding
Source: Thomas Harding