One start does not make a season, but when Rockies right-hander Jon Gray takes the mound Friday night at Chase Field, his performance will carry extra weight.
Perhaps no player on the Rockies’ roster has more at stake as Colorado enters its final three games of the season.
To borrow a favorite word from former Rockies manager Jim Tracy, it would behoove Gray to have a strong final start against Arizona and make a statement. The Rockies will be watching closely, as well a number of teams looking for starting pitching during the coming offseason.
Gray, who is scheduled to become a free agent for the first time in his career, has had a decent season, going 8-12 with a 4.28 ERA over 28 starts. He’s struck out 150 while walking 58.
But the right-hander is mired in a slump as his contract year nears its end. He has not pitched more than five innings since Aug. 4, going 1-5 with a 6.23 ERA over his last eight starts.
“What it feels like for me is that (I haven’t) been getting into a good tempo and making pitches,” Gray said last Saturday night after allowing four runs on five hits, including two home runs across 4 2/3 innings in Colorado’s 7-2 loss to San Francisco at Coors Field.
“I feel like games have been kind of dragging by,” Gray continued. “It’s been a lot of walks, so I need to eliminate those. It’s just (about) being on the plate more, getting guys to put the ball in play more. Just putting the ball in their court, attacking, that’s what’s missing.”
Gray has repeatedly said he would like to sign a new contract with the Rockies and remain with the team that selected him with the third overall pick in the 2013 draft. The Rockies have said they are open to keeping him, though serious negotiations have not begun yet.
“As we always say, it takes two to tango, but we would like Jon to be here,” Rockies interim general manager Bill Schmidt said in August. “We’re optimistic that we’ll be able to work something out with Jon. That’s one of the reasons why we didn’t trade him (at the July 30 deadline), even though we had offers.
“Jon’s on record saying he’d like to be here. If it’s possible, we’d like to have Jon here past the end of this season.”
When Schmidt said that, however, Gray was pitching relatively well. That’s not been the case lately as Gray has failed to pitch deep into games.
“I think the simple answer, as far as not getting past the sixth, is that there are some mistakes in there that have cost him, where we’ve had to (remove him from) the game based on the score,” manager Bud Black said of Gray’s subpar eight-start stretch. “More detailed, in probably a number of at-bats, through those eight starts, where he has gotten ahead, and he hasn’t quite been able to put guys away consistently. And also those counts where maybe he’s fallen behind, they’ve gotten hits.
“If you look at every start, there are probably points in the game where an at-bat or pitch that has been critical has gone against him.”
Gray enters what could be his final start in a Rockies uniform with a solid but certainly not great career. In 151 games (150 starts), he’s 53-49 with a 4.54 ERA, averaging 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings vs. 3.1 walks per nine. He started the 2017 wild-card game at Arizona but got blown out early and he was left off the 2018 playoff roster.
“If you really dig deeper into the numbers with Jon — like really dig deep — and look at his entire body of work and how it stands up to the other 150 major league starting pitchers during his tenure, it might look really good to you. It really might,” Black said. “You look to see where Jon is when he’s taken the mound and the work that he’s done, you might find a very solid major league starting pitcher over his tenure here.”
On Deck
Rockies RHP Jon Gray (8-12, 4.28 ERA) at Diamondbacks TBA
7:40 p.m. Friday, Chase Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
Gray is facing Arizona for the sixth time this season. He went 1-2 with a 4.80 ERA in his previous five starts against the Diamondbacks, including an 0-1 record with a 5.25 ERA in two starts at Chase Field. Gray is 4-3 with a 3.72 ERA in eight career starts in Phoenix. The right-hander is coming off his 12th loss of the season, giving up four runs on five hits, including two home runs, in 4 2/3 innings against the Giants at Coors Field.
Trending: The Rockies finished their 2021 season hitting 99 home runs at home, tied for 17th in club history (2016). Their home ERA of 4.66 ranked sixth-best in franchise history.
At issue: Although the Diamondbacks entered their Thursday night game against San Francisco with a 50-108 record, the Rockies are just 2-4 against the D-Backs at Chase Field heading into Friday night’s game.
Pitching probables
Saturday: Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (4-9, 4.10) at Diamondbacks TBA, 6:10 p.m., ATTRM
Sunday: Rockies TBA at Diamondbacks TBA, 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
End of regular season
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