MLB: By Debacle: Star Player Counted

Sonny Gray disappointed again on Wednesday in his New York Yankees against the Baltimore Orioles (7:5 O’s). Afterwards, manager Aaron Boone publicly counted him for the first time.

Gray only held 2 2/3 innings and played seven runs on eight hits against the O’s, who hadn’t been involved with the playoffs for months and made a few good players before the trade deadline. He was finally replaced by newcomer Lance Lynn, who did not make a run in his Yankees debut over 4 1/3 innings.

Boone then admitted, at the request of the reporters, that Gray’s place in New York’s pitching rotation was no longer certain: “This is something we will discuss in the coming hours and days.

Gray had recently caught up after a series of weak performances and delivered three pretty decent games, with his six shutout innings in Baltimore representing his best start since early June (8 shoutout innings in Toronto) in early July.

Now, however, the next setback. “At the end of the day, I want to do what’s best for our chances of winning, whatever that may be,” Gray told The Athletic.

Should Gray actually be demoted, Lynn would be the obvious alternative, after all he is a self-taught starter.