Weiss: Gray needs at least another rehab start

Denver – Jon Gray took his first step on his road to recovery on Monday night making a rehab start with the Modesto Nuts. In 4.2 innings, Gray allowed two runs on four hits and a walk to go along with three strikeouts.

Gray was sidelined a few weeks ago in spring training when he came out of a game in the first inning, suffering from discomfort in his abdomen. In his stead, the Rockies went with a short rotation and now are planning to move Christian Bergman into a spot start on Thursday against the Giants. 

“All positive, all positive stuff,” Manager Walt Weiss said of Gray’s rehab start. “[He] came out of it healthy and threw the ball well. All good stuff”

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that Gray is ready to jump right back into the Rockies rotation, no matter how bad they may need him.

“He’s not really built up,” says Weiss. “He’s only been up to — I think  — 64 pitches, that’s as many pitches as he’s thrown all spring. So we probably need him to make another start and go a little bit deeper.”

Talk about lucky to be showing progress so quick for abdominal injury but the Rockies should still proceed with caution. As tempting as it is to rush an arm with that kind of stuff back into a rotation in desperate need of reinforcements, the Rockies must always play the long game with Gray, and so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get even two more rehab starts. Stay tuned to BSN Denver for an update after his next appearance.