PEORIA, Ariz. -- A healthy Sonny Gray took the mound against the Padres in a Cactus League game Wednesday afternoon and unleashed strikes with ease.
Oakland's ace counted off 19, to be exact, in 27 tries, and looked very comfortable on the mound, striking out four over two scoreless innings in a 5-0 San Diego win. Typically, this wouldn't draw the type of attention it necessitated, except Gray's 2016 season was anything but typical.
Gray, who in 2014 finished third in American League Cy Young Award voting, stumbled to a 5.69 ERA in 22 starts and also succumbed to two disabled list trips last year -- the well-documented woes adding intrigue to an otherwise ho-hum Spring Training game.