Sonny Gray to Replace Max Scherzer in All-Star Game
By Karl Rasmussen
Another replacement has been named to the NL All-Star team.
Cincinnati Reds starter Sonny Gray is set to replace Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer, who pitched on Saturday, on the NL All-Star roster.
Sonny Gray has been named to the NL All-Star squad to replace Max Scherzer. pic.twitter.com/fOkLHmL4u7
— MLB (@MLB) July 7, 2019
Scherzer has been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball in 2019. On the year, the Nats' ace has logged an 8-5 record with a 2.43 WHIP and 170 strikeouts across 122.1 innings of work.
The selection of Gray, who last made an All-Star game back in 2015 as a member of the Oakland Athletics, is no doubt a downgrade from Scherzer, but it’s certainly a pleasant surprise.
Gray has had a strong bounce-back year with the Reds after a brutal 2018 season with the Yankees. He boasts a respectable 3.59 ERA, 3.35 FIP and has 103 strikeouts to his name across 90.2 innings of work. His ERA is actually at its lowest point since he left Oakland.
#Reds sending not one but TWO pitchers to this year’s All Star Game - Sonny Gray added to NL All-Star team, replacing Max Scherzer, who pitched today
— Shannon Ford (@Shannon__Ford) July 7, 2019
It’s nice to see that the work he’s put in this year, following one of the worst seasons of his career, won’t go unrecognized. He’s gone from a maligned pitcher in New York to a quality arm in Cincinnati.
And now he’ll fall in line behind fellow rotation member Luis Castillo to represent the Reds, who have quietly hung around in the playoff picture, in Cleveland.