CJ Gray 7/11/26

CJ Gray went 5 innings Saturday in what was maybe his best pro outing to date, looking like a potential MLB starter. He was up to 98 on the gun and had it all working for him. Gray attacks mostly east/west from a low ¾ slot which creates heavy sinking/tailing life on his fastball. The sinker/slider combo creates a lot of horizontal separation for hitters to defend and gets a combination of ground balls and sw/m.

Gray is a plus athlete – light on his feet with excellent body control and sneaky agility for a bigger kid. He rotates well and has plus arm strength. He also has absolute oak tree trunks for legs which should help take some burden off his arm. The arm action is free and easy, and it is a fairly low-effort mid to high 90s heat. He touched 97 x3 on my gun and 98 once. If you don’t believe Stalker Pro II’s you can also verify on Baseball Savant because this game was played in the stadium.

Gray has a lot of SP traits. The body is big/durable and looks capable of logging SP innings, no problem. The raw stuff could profile in the back end of a rotation. I have some concerns with the in-zone utility of his breaking ball, which has so much horizontal movement, it is difficult to land for strikes, although Gray still does at times. Changeup consistency is another important variable, but I have seen it good enough this year to have confidence in it long term.

If he is going to remain a starter, the ground ball outs will be key in allowing him to turn over a lineup and limit his pitch count. Yesterday Gray recorded eight ground balls and was a good defender off the mound, which bodes well given his pitch mitch. He was quick and decisive fielding his position.

In terms of makeup, Gray seems like a high energy kid. Yesterday’s game was played in 110-degree desert heat, and he raced to the mound to start innings with unmistakable alacrity. Meanwhile, I sullenly melted into my lawn chair in the shade of Tempe Diablo’s concourse. I get the impression this kid not only loves baseball, he loves to compete.