Sonny Gray's frustrating Cardinals tenure fell short of expectations

Sonny Gray, please exit stage left.

When the St. Louis Cardinals signed Gray prior to the 2024 season, visions of the right-hander turning the rotation around and leading the team to success danced in the front office's eyes. Gray was fresh off an All-Star campaign with the Minnesota Twins, when he owned a 2.79 ERA in 184 innings, and the Cardinals believed they had staff linchpin who would serve as a workhorse for the next few seasons.

Now, as the Cardinals wave goodbye to Gray after dealing him to the Boston Red Sox for young pitchers Brandon Clarke and Richard Fitts, it's difficult to view Gray's time with the Cardinals as anything more than a disappointment.

Gray didn't provide the Cardinals what they had hoped for.

When Gray signed with St. Louis, there was palpable excitement around Cardinals Nation regarding the team's chances to rebound from a miserable 2023, where the rotation was the main reason for the Cardinals' collapse. In the subsequent two seasons with the Cardinals, Gray performed adequately, but he failed to get the Cardinals over the hump and pitch them into the postseason. He held a 4.07 ERA in 347 innings across 2024 and 2025, and while he often excelled in the pitcher-friendly confines of Busch Stadium, Gray was not as adept on the road. In St. Louis, Gray owned a 2.79 ERA in 2024 and a 3.90 ERA in 2025. Elsewhere, he sputtered to an ERA of 5.20 in 2024 and 4.92 in 2025.

It always felt like something better was just around the corner when it came to Gray. His expected stats routinely outpaced his actual stats, with his FIP around a full run lower than his era in both of his seasons with the Cardinals. In fairness, Gray did provide flashes of brilliance on the mound, including a dazzling one-hit shutout that qualified as a "Maddux game," as he threw fewer than 100 pitches in the start. But too often, Gray required everything to line up perfectly regarding his preparation and the conditions of the game for him to perform at his best.

In a start on May 20, 2024, Gray puzzlingly signaled to manager Oli Marmol in the sixth inning that he was ready to come out. In the postgame conference, Gray said that he had "nothing left" when he requested to be removed. On July 8, 2025, after an hourlong rain delay, Gray again asked to be taken out after throwing just 70 pitches, saying he just "ran out of gas" and that he had assumed that the game was going to be postponed.

Compounding Gray's struggles to adjust to his environment was his seeming inability to pitch in hot weather. His numbers in games over 90 degrees are not pretty throughout his career, and after a July loss against the Miami Marlins in a sweltering night at Busch Stadium, Gray mentioned his issues gripping the ball, saying "everything's just wet."

Some of the blame has to be placed on the Cardinals as well. Had the team brought in — or developed — a strong No. 1 starter, Gray would not have been thrust into the role as the Cardinals' top starter and expected to perform as such. If Gray had been the Cardinals' second starter, his results would have been more in line with their expectations.

Gray's performance wasn't everything fans and the Cardinals dreamed of, and it's difficult to declare his signing a success. However, if Clarke or Fitts becomes a strong piece in the Cardinals' future rotation, Gray may have provided more in departing than he ever did while on the team.