7. Sonny Gray
Source: Jason O. Watson/Getty Images North America
Sonny Gray is a young, undersized righty pitcher out of Vanderbilt. He stands in at 5’10”, 190 pounds and is not the type pitcher like David Price, who will intimidate a batter through stature. But Gray has been able to log some quality innings for the Oakland Athletics over the past three seasons, and at the start of 2015 he was an American League Cy Young candidate.
Through his first 70 innings of the season, Gray compiled a 6-2 record with a sub-2.00 ERA while holding batters under .200. If that isn’t impressive enough, he also struck out 65 batters.
Gray was only 25 years old, though, and faded as the season went on. He finished with a 14-7 record and a 2.73 ERA. After the All-Star Break, Gray had a 3.74 ERA and was 4-4 compared to a 2.02 ERA with a 10-3 record before. Gray has had some time off to rest his arm and let his body mature over the offseason. Expect him to be an American League Cy Young candidate again in 2016 — but this time, the kid probably won’t fade after July.
Leave a Reply