Yankees: Sonny Gray blasts former team for his bad performances

Former Yankees starting pitcher Sonny Gray, now a member of the Reds, blasted the Bombers, blaming them for his terrible performances on the mound.

Sonny Gray, the 29-year-old starting pitcher, is making sure he’s leaving a mark with his former team, the Yankees before he begins a fresh start with the Reds.

So I go on my phone, and I read tweets that the former Yankee starter blamed the organization for his lack of good performances on the mound, once he was acquired by the Bombers at the 2017 trade deadline.

Gray told The Athletic [subscription required] that the Yanks wanted him to be like Masahiro Tanaka and throw sliders:

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"“They love sliders,” he said of the Yankees. “Sliders are a great pitch. The numbers say slider is a good pitch, but you might not realize how many s— counts you’re getting in while throwing all those sliders. They wanted me to be Tanaka and I’m way different from him.”“What do you think?” he remembers asking. “Am I nuts? Do you see a difference? What’s the difference? They said, no, you’ve just been unlucky. I was like, ‘that’s bull—.'”"

I don’t care how you feel about your previous team — going out and publicly bashing your former employer makes you look bitter. Chances are, Gray could not handle the pressure that came with pitching under the bright lights and big market that is New York.

Yankees pitchers coach Larry Rothschild may be losing some touch with how he coaches his players, but this doesn’t give Gray the right to throw him under the bus.

After Gray was traded to the Bombers during the summer of 2017, he posted a 3.72 ERA, followed by a 4.90 ERA in 2018. Overall, he gave up 98 earned runs, 25 home runs and 87 walks while in pinstripes.

I don’t know about you, but I have lost some reverence for Sonny after how bashed his former team. Yankees general manager, Brian Cashman publicity, admitted that Gray didn’t work out for the Yanks and that he’ll likely succeed better elsewhere.

Cashman spoke the truth, but Gray still decided to take the low road. That is something I’ll never understand.

Just for Sonny’s sake, I hope he performs better with the Reds. During away games in 18, Gray posted a 3.17 ERA — while being rocked at home — posting a 6.98 ERA. So perhaps he’ll return to be his old self in Cincinnati.