So far, Sonny Gray might be saving the Red Sox
No team with any real aspirations would ever celebrate a 4-8 start to the baseball season, but the Red Sox have at least one thing to smile about …
BOSTON, MA – APRIL 8: Pitcher Sonny Gray #54 of the Boston Red Sox tips his cap to the fans as he leaves the game during the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park on April 8, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
No team with any real aspirations would ever celebrate a 4-8 start to the baseball season, but the Red Sox have at least one thing to smile about early in 2026: Sonny Gray is helping to save their bacon.
Not long after ace Garrett Crochet shut down the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. Gray backboned the Red Sox to their second win in less than 24 hours on Wednesy in a 5-0 win at Fenway Park. The Red Sox now have the same 2-1 record behind Gray as they do behind Crochet, which means they're 4-2 behind their top two starters entering series at St. Louis and Minnesota.
The downside, of course, is that the Sox are an abysmal 0-6 behind everyone else. And neither Crochet nor Gray is scheduled to pitch in the upcoming series against St. Louis.
Said manager Alex Cora of Gray: "He competes. He prepares. He knows what he's doing out there."
Now in his 14th season, Gray has been a good pitcher during his career - but not a great one. Shortly after the Red Sox acquired him from St. Louis in an offseason trade - the Cardinals also sent the Red Sox $20 million in the deal - Cora made the comment that right-handed batters hit the ball to right-center field against Gray, something the Red Sox were happy to allow. Fenway Park has one of the spacious outfields in baseball in right and right-center fields, where the Sox have Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu positioned.
Winslow Townson/Getty ImagesSo far, Gray is 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA at home and 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA on the road. In the smaller confines of Cincinnati, where Gray made his only road start, he allowed a home run to right-center field.
Just the same, the early returns on data suggest Gray is succeeding in a different fashion so far as a member of the Red Sox. He currently has the highest groundball rate of his career at 57.6% and recorded just two strikeouts against the Brewers, whom he has faced more than any team in his career.
Said Gray: “Having faced them a lot, they know what I do and we had a pivot in place and were able to execute that.”
Whatever the strategy, it worked.
Still, gray's home-road splits and his ability to keep the ball on the ground are things to keep an eye on as he goes forward.
