Gray allowed one run on four hits and struck out four over two innings in Thursday's spring training start against the Athletics.
Gray made his spring debut and looked sharp. All four strikeouts were the result of a revamped slider, Jesse Borek of MLB.com reports. "It's moving a lot more," Gray said of the slider he worked on with pitching coach Brendan Sagara. "It's got a lot more horizontal action on it. It probably moves double the amount my old one does... This one kind of goes across the whole plate." The right-hander already had a pretty good slider, as batters were limited to a .156 batting average and .300 slugging percentage against the pitch he threw a career-high 38.1 percent of the time in 2021. Gray is a leading candidate to become the ace of a Rangers' staff that's looking for a bona fide No. 1 starter.