FORT MYERS, FLA. — By the third and final inning of Sonny Gray's first competitive outing of the spring, catcher Ryan Jeffers realized Gray had a "problem."
He was pitching too well.
"He didn't have any runners on base because [he's] just carving it up out there," Jeffers said. But Gray, who struck out six of the first seven batters he faced Monday, wanted to pitch from the stretch instead of a full wind-up, wanted to vary the speed of his delivery as though a base-stealing threat was standing on first, wanted to see if he could pitch out of a jam, even if the Class AAA Worcester Red Sox hitters didn't appear capable of mounting one against him.
Thus motivated, Gray continued carving: Foul pop up. Routine grounder to short. Shallow fly ball to center.
"It was awesome," Jeffers said. "A guy who can move the baseball around, have that intensity on the mound, it's always fun for me. [Gray is] a guy who knows what he wants to do and how to execute it. And that's what he did."
Since Gray's throwing day happened to land on the Twins' lone day off during spring training, the former Athletics, Yankees and Reds pitcher was assigned to pitch for St. Paul for a day, with Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson supervising.
“We haven't made any decisions yet as far as lining up our pitchers. There's not many days before Opening Day, but we still have a long way to go.”
It was a mismatch. Using a fastball, cutter, slider and some hard-biting curveballs, Gray retired nine of the 10 hitters he faced, throwing 32 strikes among his 44 pitches, and getting ahead 0-2 on half of them.
"It was fun to do that. You get to two strikes, you know what to do when you get there," Gray said. "You have to know how to put guys away."
Johnson said Gray was as efficient and skillful as the Twins expected.
"There are still some things we want to get accomplished but not many," Johnson said. "Can't complain about that for a first time. Not a lot to be concerned with."
Gray only threw one bad pitch among the 44, a first-inning fastball that Class AAA Red Sox slugger Tyreque Reed lofted over the left-field fence, just inside the foul pole. Everything else? Fastballs the prospects couldn't time, cutters that dived at the last second, and change-of-pace curveballs that froze hitters.
"Today was a good day. My body felt good. Felt like I was able to locate pitches, move the fastball around, compete, make pitches, execute the plan," said the 32-year-old two-time All-Star, who was acquired from Cincinnati two weeks ago. "It was really, really good work. It was a lot of fun."
By pitching Monday and continuing on regular rest, Gray can start a major-league game Saturday, presumably pitching four innings, then take the mound at Target Field on Opening Day. But it's become clear this month that neither Gray nor the Twins consider having him pitch the opener is of any particular importance.
"We haven't made any decisions yet as far as lining up our pitchers," manager Rocco Baldelli said over the weekend. "There's not many days before Opening Day, but we still have a long way to go."
Johnson said he's considering giving Gray an extra day of rest this week, as he normally does once a pitcher throws his first three-inning start, even though it makes Gray unavailable for the opener against the Mariners.
"Tomorrow, for me, is a big day. Sonny and I have kind of circled that. Let's get him in, see how he feels," Johnson said. "These guys, they're competitors, they're juiced up. He said, yeah, I feel good, I could have kept going."
But the pitching coach also is prepared for Gray's steady ramp-up to last a week or two into the regular season if need be, too.
"We've got to get ready for the marathon. So what if you win the first five miles?" Johnson said. "We want to do what's best for him. He's so smooth — it was impressive."
