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Sonny Gray’s new Red Sox teammates approve of his anti-Yankees commentary
"I think growing up for me personally I wasn’t a huge fan of theirs."
Sonny Gray has yet to take to the mound as a member of the Boston Red Sox.
But, the 36-year-old starter has already ingratiated himself to his new team, given his candid comments about the New York Yankees.
“I’ll tell you what did factor into my decision to come to Boston,” Gray said in his first Zoom conference with Boston. “It feels good to me to go to a place now where, you know what, it’s easy to hate the Yankees.”
“It’s easy to go out and have that rivalry and go in it with full force, full steam ahead. I like the challenge. I appreciate the challenge. I accept the challenge.”
Gray’s commentary about Boston’s top rival was welcomed by a few of his new teammates.
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“Obviously you love that,” catcher Connor Wong told MassLive’s Chris Smith of Gray’s putdown of the Yankees. “I think growing up for me personally I wasn’t a huge fan of theirs, so I love that out of him and very excited to have him.”
“It’s good to have somebody that’s like-minded,” Red Sox rookie southpaw Payton Tolle added when asked by Smith of Gray’s allegiances.
Gray has good reason to dislike New York. Despite earning three All-Star nods across his 13-year MLB career, Gray had a rough stretch during his two seasons in The Bronx — going 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA over that stretch.
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During his lone full season with the Yankees in 2018, he posted an ERA of 4.90 and was eventually bumped out of the starting rotation in August.
Despite that setback, Gray managed to right the ship after New York traded him to the Reds ahead of the 2019 season. Gray finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting that year with an 11-8 record and a 2.87 ERA, and went on to finish second in AL Cy Young voting with the Twins (8-8, 2.79 ERA) in 2023.
Now back in the AL East after Boston acquired him in a trade with St. Louis, Gray will look to twist the knife against his former team whenever called upon to take on the Bronx Bombers.
“This time around it’s just go out and be yourself,” Gray said of dealing with the expectations of playing in a high-pressure market once again. “Don’t try to be anything other than yourself, if people don’t like it, it is what it is. I am who I am.”
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