Sonny Gray will wear a third different uniform in his third different All-Star Game next week in Seattle. Maybe he will do something else a little different, too: Pitch.
Gray was the lone Twins player selected to the 32-member AL All-Star team, marking the 27th time in the franchise’s 63-year history that only one player will represent the Twins, and the seventh time that he’s a pitcher.
It’s the third time Gray has been chosen to the All-Star Game; he represented Oakland in 2015 and Cincinnati in 2019, but didn’t pitch in either game.
The roster decision likely came as a disappointment to fellow Twins starter Joe Ryan and reliever Jhoan Duran, each of whom was promoted by his manager for a spot on the team.
[Jhoan] Duran is a very easy guy to lobby for, the way he’s thrown the ball this year,” Rocco Baldelli said earlier this week. “Those guys have had wonderful first halves. I’m hoping they get acknowledged for everything they’ve done, because they’ve been great.”
Gray ranks fourth in the majors in ERA at 2.50, and has given up only three home runs in 93⅔ innings, though at 4-2, he hasn’t been credited with a victory since April. With his next start scheduled for Friday against the Royals, it’s possible he could be cleared to pitch an inning in the July 11 game.
Ryan’s ERA is 3.44 to go along with an 8-5 record, and 10 days ago, he pitched the first complete-game shutout by a Twins pitcher since 2018. But his most recent start, Tuesday in Atlanta, was one of the worst of his career. He gave up six runs in three innings.
Duran’s blown save Sunday was his third this season, in 15 opportunities. The major leagues’ hardest-throwing pitcher has struck out 43 hitters in 32⅔ innings, with a 1.93 ERA.