Josiah Gray yielded a leadoff home run to Gunnar Henderson and very little else in his final start of the season, yielding just six hits while fanning seven.
BALTIMORE — After Josiah Gray walked Aaron Hicks with two down in the sixth Tuesday night, Keibert Ruiz peeked into the dugout while walking to the mound. Maybe, Ruiz thought, Manager Dave Martinez planned to replace Gray with Jose A. Ferrer. That would have given the Washington Nationals a lefty-lefty matchup against Cedric Mullins. Gray, the Nationals’ right-handed starter, had already done more than enough.But Martinez had no intention of hooking him.
“It’s been a crazy season,” Gray said. “Obviously being named an all-star was something I never dreamed of, and being able to go out there and succeed and just be in that environment was surreal. And then struggling after the break was also something that was tough. I can’t really put it into words. It made [me be like], ‘Man, what am I doing here? Where are things going?’“Being able to rebound from that, obviously the confidence from my teammates, confidence from the staff, it means a lot.
“He used all his pitches, threw some really good change-ups,” Martinez said. “But his fastball was good. It was electric today. I’m proud of him. He finished up the season really strong and can build off that for next year.” Gray’s four-seamer, perhaps his most important pitch, was hammered for 24 home runs in 2022. This season, he allowed 22, a step forward in his development. That included only four on his four-seamer, then seven on his slider, seven on his cutter, two on his curve, one on his sinker and one on his sweeping slider. His change-up, a pitch he threw sparingly for most of the season, was shielded from damage because of its low usage.
“Tonight summed up the pitcher I can be,” Gray said. “Getting groundballs when I want, getting weak contact, minimizing damage, working around a walk or two, getting a strikeout in big spots. It’s the pitcher I know I can be. It’s a matter of being just consistent about it. This year was better than the last and was better than the year before that. Now next year I have to look at how I can get better.
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