The Athletics have placed Sonny Gray on the disabled list with a strained right trapezius, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links here). In a corresponding move, the club recalled lefty Daniel Coulombe from Triple-A Nashville.
It’s unknown how much time Gray will miss, though the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg sat out nearly a month last year with the same injury, notes Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). It’s also unclear if the right-hander had been pitching injured prior to landing on the DL. If that were the case, it would help to explain his precipitous decline this year. After posting ace-like numbers for the A’s in 491 innings from 2013-15, Gray has compiled a 6.19 ERA, 7.69 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 48 innings this season. In his previous start, a 3 1/3-frame showing against the Yankees on Friday, Gray surrendered four earned runs on six hits and four walks.
Gray’s velocity looks normal, as do his strikeout and ground-ball rates, but his walk, home run and hard-contact marks have notably increased in 2016.
With Gray down, the A’s now have a franchise-record 13 players on the DL. The A’s haven’t announced how they’ll set their rotation in Gray’s absence, but the vacant spot won’t go to Coulombe, who’s a reliever. Couolombe has logged 22 1/3 big league innings, including one with the A’s this year, and put up a 6.04 ERA, 6.85 K/9 and 5.24 BB/9.
Not that OAK was shopping Gray, but his name has been mentioned as one of the top targets for many teams needing a top-shelf SP, so with this development, it’ll be interesting what happens going into the Trade Deadline. Does this make Teheran, Pomeranz, Rich Hill even more coveted?
Not sure it makes them more coveted, but definitely makes Gray less.
He did say he found a mechanical flaw, maybe he overcompensated and that did it?