Sonny

Gray

Cora added that Brayan Bello will make his next start on Wednesday against the Blue Jays after being lit up for eight runs over 3 1/3 innings on Friday against the Orioles. Gray appears on track to return in early May against the Tigers. The interesting question is whether top pitching prospect Payton Tolle will be shipped back to the minors when that happens. It’s a variable to consider for fantasy managers rostering the fire-balling southpaw following an impressive debut against the Yankees earlier this week.

Triple-A Worcester manager Chad Tracy told reporters there’s “a pretty good likelihood” that Tolle pitches for the Red Sox later this week. The 23-year-old southpaw, who holds a strong 3.00 ERA and 19/4 K/BB ratio across 15 innings over three starts in the minors this season, figures to get the ball this weekend against the division-rival Orioles with Sonny Gray (hamstring) staring at a multi-week absence. His strikeout upside alone makes Tolle worthy of a fantasy roster spot in all leagues until further notice.

Gray will be out at least a couple of weeks with the strain, but there’s a good chance the 36-year-old will need more than the minimum stint before being activated. Tyler Samaniego will take Gray’s spot on the active roster, but it’ll likely be Payton Tolle — one of the top pitching prospects in baseball — who takes his spot in the rotation.

Cotillo adds that Tyler Samaniego will be called up on Tuesday to take Gray’s roster spot and fortify Boston’s relief corps. The 36-year-old veteran is scheduled to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of hamstring issue that led to his early exit from Monday’s start against the Tigers after just 2 2/3 innings. It’s not official yet, but all signs point to top pitching prospect Payton Tolle coming up to fill his rotation spot against the Orioles this weekend. The hard-throwing 23-year-old southpaw needs to be rostered in all fantasy formats based on his strikeout upside.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters afterwards that they don’t believe the issue to be serious, but they don’t want to take any chances. The 36-year-old veteran has a history of hamstring issues and will undergo precautionary imaging after being lifted from his Marathon Monday start against Detroit following 40 pitches over 2 2/3 innings. There should be some much-needed clarity on his status later this week. Top pitching prospect Payton Tolle would be the obvious choice to fill his rotation spot, which makes him worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy formats.

Gray labored a bit through the third inning, and then, after walking Gleyber Torres with two outs, seemed to try to stretch out his hamstring. He threw one pitch with the trainers watching, yelled in anger, and then begrudgingly gave the ball to manager Alex Cora. There is no word yet on the severity of the injury, but the Red Sox are calling it hamstring tightness. That would likely mean that Gray would be placed on the injured list, even if it’s just for a minimum stay. Payton Tolle is on the same pitching schedule as Gray, so he would be the obvious replacement if Gray had to miss any time and should be added in all league types now just in case.

Not good, but at least it’s not Garrett Crochet bad. Gray gave up nine hits, including a couple of solo homers, and struck out just one batter. He did generate 10 whiffs tonight, but they just weren’t strike threes. The last time he struck out one or no batters was on Apr. 1, 2023, but that was a good outing in which, while pitching for the Twins, he shut out the Royals for five innings. Gray will likely make his next start Monday against the Tigers.

Gray struck out only two, but a Brewers lineup minus William Contreras, Brice Turang and Jackson Chourio just didn’t put up much of a fight. Greg Weissert, Tyler Samaniego (in his MLB debut) and Ryan Watson finished the shutout. Gray is 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA in three starts against his old National League foes. He’ll take on his first AL team this year next week against the Twins.

The runs came in the fifth, which got started because Ceddanne Rafaela lost a fly to center in the sun to give Miguel Andujar a triple. A single and a double followed. Gray allowed just one hit over the other five innings and walked none. His next turn will come against the Brewers. He went 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA in four starts against them for the Cardinals last year.

Gray would have had an easier time in a two-run first if he hadn’t dropped the ball while trying to make a tag at home plate on a soft comebacker. Better yet, he could have just thrown to the catcher in the first place. But that run was still earned, because dropping a ball while trying to tag someone isn’t an error. The unearned run came in the second after a Trevor Story error. Gray’s velocity was good today, but he was a little wilder than usual and the 35-pitch first ruled out any chance of him going deep into the game. He’ll take on the Padres next.