Around 1 or 2 weeks ago, I listened to a podcast show. In the show, the host and the analysts were talking about Sonny Gray. The discussion was very interesting. I used to watch Sonny Gray pitch in Oakland when he played for the Athletics. So, every time, when there’s a discussion about Sonny Gray, I always want to listen to what they said.
After listening to the podcast show, I was just wondering about Sonny Gray’s career so far. How great is Gray? To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website.
Firstly, let’s look at innings pitched. Gray made his MLB debut in 2013. So far in his career, he has tossed 2000+ innings. There are not so many pitchers who have thrown more innings than Gray during this period. From 2013 to 2026, Max Scherzer threw 2243 innings. Kevin Gausman also made his MLB debut in 2013. So far in his career, he has tossed 2088.2 innings. Interestingly, Gerrit Cole was called up in 2013 and he has thrown 2081 innings thus far in his career.
Secondly, let’s look at wins. Max Scherzer earned 173 wins from 2013 to 2026. Gerrit Cole now has 163 wins in his career. Clayton Kershaw retired after the 2025 season. From 2013 to 2025, he got 162 wins. And Sonny Gray has 143 wins so far in his career. Justin Verlander retired after the 2026 season. From 2013 to 2026, he won 142 games.
In addition, let’s look at the number of strikeouts. Max Scherzer is a member of the 3000-strikeout club. From 2013 to 2026, he threw 2728 strikeouts. Chris Sale has 2779 strikeouts thus far in his career. From 2013 to 2026, he threw 2476 strikeouts. Gerrit Cole has 2382 strikeouts in his career and Kevin Gausman has 2138 strikeouts. Furthermore, Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw are also in the 3000-strikeout club. Verlander struck out 2106 batters from 2013 to 2026 and Kershaw threw 2078 strikeouts from 2013 to 2025. Sonny Gray has struck out 2074 batters so far in his career.
Finally, let’s look at quality starts. Max Scherzer had 231 quality starts from 2013 to 2026. During this period, he made 359 starts. Gerrit Cole has 222 quality starts so far in his career. Verlander has 210 quality starts from 2013 to 2026. From 2013 to 2025, Kershaw had 204 quality starts. Sale has 198 quality starts from 2013 to 2026. Zack Wheeler made his MLB debut in 2013. So far in his career, Wheeler has 196 QS. At the same time, Sonny Gray has 193 quality starts.
Looking at Sonny Gray’s career, so far, he is one of the most reliable starters in the majors. In the meantime, when we look at the leaderboard from 2013 to 2026, Sonny Gray’s stats are actually impressive as we see several pitchers who will likely become Hall of Famers in the future. In 2026, Gray had a fantastic season. He made 29 starts for the Red Sox, posting a 2.72 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP over 169 innings. As one of the most reliable pitchers in the majors for such a long time, it will be very interesting to see if he will still pitch for the Red Sox in 2027.
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