Wolf vs. Snakes: Jon Gray tells us the keys to biggest start of his career

When the Colorado Rockies selected Jon Gray with the third overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, you better believe they envisioned a future in which the fireballer out of Oklahoma would be called upon to pitch huge games in a postseason race in September.

On Saturday, that vision will become a reality as the Wolf of Blake Street makes the most important start of his budding career.

It hasn’t been the breakout campaign that many, including Gray, were hoping for this season. A player we thought might be primed to get his name into Cy Young contention found himself sidelined for more than a month with a foot injury. As such, Gray has thrown just 75.1 innings for Colorado and a few rough outings, most notably in the first game after the All-Star break against the New York Mets, have kept his numbers decidedly unremarkable for someone with ace potential.

But Gray flipped the season script in August, posting a 3-1 record with a 2.30 ERA in five starts. That this came during the Rockies worst stretch of baseball should not be overlooked. In 2016, Gray made himself known as a stopper and that’s the role he finds himself in on Saturday night in the second game of three against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Colorado comes in losers of seven in their last 12, Arizona has won eight straight.

BSN Denver sat down with Gray and asked if he felt like he was finally getting into mid-season form?

“Yeah, I feel like I’m getting really close,” he said. “It’s been something that’s been going a game at a time. Each time out, I feel just a little bit better and more comfortable out there. The slider is being really sharp right now so as long as that continues to grow, I think I’m really close, if not a game away. Feeling really confident.”

His manager, Bud Black, agrees.

“I think Jon’s been in a nice rhythm,” he said before the big game. “Once he came back, it took him a while to get all his pitches together. By that I mean we never saw the good slider in those initial start back from the foot injury. But now I’m seeing the slider and I’m seeing the fastball command much better. His curveball’s coming along a bit but I think it’s more a function of the reps he’s accumulated and the fastball slider combination.”

“He’s in midseason form in September,” he tacked on.

We highlighted the importance of Gray’s slider on a recent episode of the BSN Rockies Podcast. We asked Gray about that specific pitch as well, even noting that it looked much better in his last outing against the Atlanta Braves. But the Gray Wolf says there’s still more in that arm.

“There were some good ones but they weren’t, as a whole, very good. There were a lot that were kinda up in the zone so I need to get down. The ones I’ve been throwing this week have a lot bigger break on them so it’ really good so I can miss some bats and get people out a little quicker.”

Amid his improvement in play stands one clear criticism: Gray hasn’t gone deep into games and has, at times, failed to put hitters away economically. He says that is his main focus right now. “Once I get the guy to two strikes I’m just trying to put him away as quick as I can so the sharper that pitch the better,” he said.

As the slider gets back to the elite category, Gray’s third best pitch is coming along as well, as Black alluded to.

“The curveball, I feel like it’s a solid weapon,” Gray said. “It’s there every time. I need to use it quite a bit in a game. I wouldn’t rely on it as my secondary but I definitely need to use it for separation so people can just sit on the fastball.”

As far as facing a Diamondbacks’ lineup that he has had success against in the past, Gray isn’t thinking about the time of year or postseason implications.

“I’m just trying to pick up from where I left off from last start,” he said. “Not trying to take any steps back or change much so just trying to take a step forward from there. Keeping things simple, pitch to pitch, and see the out before you throw it. If I feel confident about the pitch and I throw it, we’re more than likely gonna get him out. More times I doubt myself, something bad happens.”

Yes, Jon Gray’s slider may be the physical manifestation of one pitch that could carry a team, but his confidence is likely just as important.