Athletics starting pitcher Sonny Gray spoiled his status as a top prospect last year in 27 decidedly mediocre starts between Double-A and Triple-A. Now, he looks like the next A's pitcher in line in the event of an injury to the rotation.
Gray's name came up Tuesday as a possible replacement for Jarrod Parker, though it looks like Parker will be able to pitch through his minor neck injury at this point. Even if Gray does not get the call this week, it looks like he should be up at the majors sometimes this season. What kind of output should we expect from the 2011 first round pick.
Gray's calling card, even in his poor 2012 season, has been his heavy groundball tendencies. He has a 55.2 percent groundball rate for his career and has allowed just eight home runs in 205 innings of work, which has helped him to a 3.64 ERA despite striking out just 6.32 batters per nine innings. He has improved his strikeout rate to 7.3 per nine innings this season, but the early returns on his minor league career indicate that he is going to be a guy who relies on keeping the ball in the yard.
That obviously limits his Fantasy upside, though it could make him incredibly stingy at the A's cavernous home park. Gray is a prospect to keep an eye on, mostly because of how close he is to the majors. He could be helpful in AL-only Fantasy formats if he gets the call.