Boston Red Sox
If Gray misses some time due to injury, the Red Sox might turn to Payton Tolle in the starting rotation.
One of the Red Sox’ top offseason acquisitions appears to be stung by the injury bug.
Boston starter Sonny Gray left the Red Sox’ Patriots Day game against the Tigers after just 2.2 innings of work — with Boston pulling him prematurely due to right hamstring tightness.
Gray was in the midst of a solid outing against Detroit before his injury, limiting the Tigers to three hits, one run, one walk, and two strikeouts to open the game.
But Gray appeared to tweak something in the third inning after issuing a walk to Gleyber Torres, prompting Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey to come out to the mound to speak with the veteran.
Both Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Boston head athletic trainer Brandon Henry quickly followed Bailey out on the mound, with Boston pulling Gray from his start after he delivered one warmup pitch.
With Gray getting the early hook, Boston turned to reliever Danny Coulombe to get out of the inning. Boston’s bullpen is already running on fumes, especially after Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet only lasted five innings on Sunday against Detroit.
Gray — who sports a 4.30 ERA through his first five starts of the season — has been one of the more durable starters in baseball over the last few seasons. The 36-year-old righty has recorded at least 166.1 innings in each of his last three campaigns with the Twins and Cardinals.
If Gray needs to spend some time on the injured list, the Red Sox will likely turn to top prospect Payton Tolle to fill in within Boston’s rotation. Tolle, 23, has made three starts so far for Triple-A Worcester — posting a 3.00 ERA and striking out 19 over 15 innings of work.
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