Rangers' Jon Gray returns to Denver to face Rockies

FLM

Jon Gray was once a building block for the Colorado Rockies' rotation. The third overall pick in the 2013 draft ascended to ace of the staff before control issues derailed his time in Denver.

He put those troubles behind him and found success with the Texas Rangers, and now he returns to face the Rockies as a World Series champion.

Gray (1-1, 2.50 ERA) will make his first-ever start as a visitor to Denver when the Rangers open a three-game series against the Rockies on Friday night.

The Rockies will send Austin Gomber (0-2, 3.79) to the mound.

Gray, 32, signed with Texas as a free agent in December 2021 after seven seasons with Colorado. He debuted in 2015, won at least 10 games each year from 2016-19 and started the 2017 National League wild-card game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He struggled in his final two seasons with the Rockies but has been a solid part of the Texas staff.

The right-hander earned the win in Game 3 of the 2023 World Series by throwing three innings of shutout relief, and the Rangers closed out the Diamondbacks in five games.

Gray has faced his former team once, getting a win with five innings of one-run ball on May 20, 2023, but that start came in Arlington, Texas. He was injured the last time Texas came to Denver in 2022, so he's excited to face the Rockies at Coors Field.

"I just want to enjoy it really," Gray told JustBaseball.com. "It's a game at Coors Field, so it's going to be fun. I'm excited to see what that's like after being away for so long.

"I've always enjoyed pitching there, so I'm excited about it. I just feel like more of a complete pitcher."

Gray was part of some good Colorado seasons, including back-to-back playoff appearances in 2017-18, but the Rockies are far from that now. They beat San Francisco 9-1 on Thursday to end a four-game skid, but they have only nine wins this year and have trailed in 36 of their 37 games.

Colorado has yet to win consecutive games, let alone a series, and is off to the worst start in franchise history.

The Thursday game -- and the end of the Rockies' 8-6 loss to the Giants on Wednesday -- provided a glimpse of what the team can do when its offense is clicking. Colorado put up six consecutive hits in a seven-run fourth inning on Thursday, building on a late rally the previous night.

"We have a ton of faith in each other," said Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle, who hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning on Thursday. "When we're passing the bats, good things are going to happen."

Gomber hopes to get that kind of run support when he faces the World Series champions. He threw six scoreless innings at Pittsburgh on Saturday, but Colorado couldn't generate any offense in a 1-0 loss. Gomber has a 3.07 ERA in his last five starts but still has no victories.

The 30-year-old left-hander has faced Texas four times -- three starts -- in his career, going 1-1 with a 3.20 ERA. He last faced the Rangers in Denver in 2021, and he held them scoreless over six innings.

--Field Level Media

TEXRangers

COLRockies

Coors FieldDenver, CO

Rangers 22-17	.258 AVG	39 HR	199 R	3.99 ERA
Rockies 9-28	.239 AVG	29 HR	138 R	5.54 ERA

J. GrayR	1-1 W-L	39.2 IP	2.50 ERA	3.82 SO/BB	1.16 WHIP
A. GomberL	0-2 W-L	38.0 IP	3.79 ERA	1.92 SO/BB	1.29 WHIP

.J. Gray

1-1, 39.2 IP, 2.50 ERA

.A. Gomber

0-2, 38.0 IP, 3.79 ERA

PLAYERS	INJURY	EXPECTED RETURN
Max Scherzer	Back	05-27-2024Expected to be out until at least May 28
Nathan Eovaldi	Groin	05-17-2024Expected to be out until at least May 18
Jacob deGrom	Elbow	07-31-2024Expected to be out until at least Aug 1
Tyler Mahle	Elbow	07-31-2024Expected to be out until at least Aug 1
Dane Dunning	Shoulder	05-20-2024Expected to be out until at least May 21
Austin Pruitt	Knee	05-09-2024Expected to be out until at least May 10
Josh Sborz	Shoulder	05-23-2024Expected to be out until at least May 24
Brock Burke	Hand	06-11-2024Expected to be out until at least Jun 12
Josh Jung	Wrist	05-27-2024Expected to be out until at least May 28
Justin Foscue	Oblique	06-06-2024Expected to be out until at least Jun 7
Cody Bradford	Ribs	05-23-2024Expected to be out until at least May 24
Carson Coleman	Elbow	05-31-2024Expected to be out until at least Jun 1
Wyatt Langford	Hamstring	05-29-2024Expected to be out until at least May 30

PLAYERS	INJURY	EXPECTED RETURN
Daniel Bard	Elbow	05-31-2025Out for the season
Kris Bryant	Back	05-16-2024Expected to be out until at least May 17
Kyle Freeland	Elbow	05-20-2024Expected to be out until at least May 21
Antonio Senzatela	Elbow	01-31-2025Out for the season
German Marquez	Elbow	06-30-2024Expected to be out until at least Jul 1
Nolan Jones	Back	05-16-2024Expected to be out until at least May 17
Lucas Gilbreath	Shoulder	05-26-2024Expected to be out until at least May 27

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Rangers TEX22-17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rockies COL9-28	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Coors FieldDenver, CO

TEXRangers

COLRockies

HITTING	G	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	2B	3B	SB	CS	FPTS
M. Semien 2B	39	168	31	48	28	7	12	25	.286	.333	.476	.809	9	1	1	0	140
A. Garcia RF	38	142	20	38	30	8	11	42	.268	.321	.493	.814	8	0	4	1	119
J. Smith 3B	38	112	21	33	17	2	14	27	.295	.402	.464	.866	11	1	1	0	98
J. Heim C	33	120	18	36	26	4	7	25	.300	.341	.425	.766	3	0	1	0	92
E. Carter LF	36	124	23	27	15	5	14	36	.218	.305	.419	.724	6	2	2	0	92
L. Taveras CF	36	122	18	31	9	2	13	24	.254	.326	.377	.703	7	1	2	2	76
C. Seager SS	35	139	16	32	13	3	14	28	.230	.303	.309	.612	2	0	0	0	73
N. Lowe 1B	18	67	12	22	10	1	13	14	.328	.438	.448	.886	5	0	1	0	60
W. Langford DH	31	116	13	26	11	1	11	29	.224	.295	.293	.588	3	1	1	1	56
J. Jung 3B	4	17	5	7	6	2	2	4	.412	.474	.941	1.415	1	1	1	0	29
T. Jankowski RF	23	41	5	11	6	1	2	6	.268	.318	.366	.684	1	0	1	0	28
E. Duran 1B	24	61	5	16	4	0	6	17	.262	.328	.295	.623	2	0	1	0	26
A. Knizner C	16	36	2	5	4	1	1	8	.139	.162	.222	.384	0	0	0	0	11
D. Wendzel 3B	15	24	1	2	2	1	0	3	.083	.083	.208	.291	0	0	0	0	6
J. Foscue 2B	2	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000	0	0	0	0	2
Total	39	1347	199	347	189	39	127	310	.258	.326	.399	.725	60	7	16	4	908

HITTING	G
M. Semien 2B	39
A. Garcia RF	38
J. Smith 3B	38
J. Heim C	33
E. Carter LF	36
L. Taveras CF	36
C. Seager SS	35
N. Lowe 1B	18
W. Langford DH	31
J. Jung 3B	4
T. Jankowski RF	23
E. Duran 1B	24
A. Knizner C	16
D. Wendzel 3B	15
J. Foscue 2B	2
Total	39

PITCHING	GP	GS	W-L	SV	SVO	IP	ERA	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	BAA	WHIP	FPTS
K. Yates RP	14	0	3-0	7	7	16.0	0.56	5	1	1	0	6	17	.098	0.69	114
N. Eovaldi SP	7	7	2-2	0	0	41.1	2.61	29	12	12	3	19	44	.201	1.16	96
J. Gray SP	8	7	1-1	0	0	39.2	2.50	35	14	11	2	11	42	.229	1.16	94
D. Dunning SP	7	7	3-2	0	0	37.1	4.10	26	19	17	7	17	43	.195	1.15	87
C. Bradford SP	3	3	3-0	0	0	19.1	1.40	10	4	3	1	2	17	.145	0.62	78
D. Robertson RP	17	0	2-0	1	3	20.2	0.87	9	3	2	1	7	27	.127	0.77	77
M. Lorenzen SP	5	5	2-2	0	0	29.0	4.66	25	15	15	5	14	23	.243	1.34	52
A. Heaney SP	7	7	0-4	0	0	36.0	4.50	31	21	18	5	9	31	.226	1.11	48
J. Urena RP	11	1	1-2	0	0	25.2	3.86	22	13	11	2	11	18	.229	1.29	38
J. Leclerc RP	14	0	3-2	1	2	15.0	5.40	11	9	9	1	13	17	.200	1.60	37
J. Latz RP	17	0	0-1	0	0	17.0	2.65	13	5	5	1	6	14	.203	1.12	28
J. Sborz RP	7	0	1-0	0	0	5.1	1.69	6	2	1	0	3	5	.273	1.69	15
J. Hernandez RP	4	0	1-0	0	0	5.0	5.40	3	3	3	0	6	2	.176	1.80	11
G. Anderson RP	4	0	0-0	0	0	3.0	12.00	6	4	4	1	0	5	.400	2.00	1
C. Winn 1B	8	0	0-1	0	0	10.1	6.10	5	7	7	1	3	10	.139	0.77	0
Y. Rodriguez RP	8	0	0-0	0	0	9.1	10.61	13	11	11	5	8	8	.317	2.25	0
A. Pruitt RP	4	0	0-0	0	0	4.1	12.46	8	6	6	3	3	1	.400	2.54	-3
J. Leiter SP	2	2	0-0	0	0	7.2	12.91	15	13	11	2	3	6	.385	2.35	-3
B. Burke RP	5	0	0-0	0	0	3.0	15.00	9	5	5	1	1	5	.529	3.33	-4
O. White RP	1	0	0-0	0	0	0.0	0.00	3	3	3	0	0	0	1.000	0.00	-6
Total	39	39	22-17	9	12	345.0	3.99	284	170	153	41	142	335	.221	1.23	760

PITCHING	GP
K. Yates RP	14
N. Eovaldi SP	7
J. Gray SP	8
D. Dunning SP	7
C. Bradford SP	3
D. Robertson RP	17
M. Lorenzen SP	5
A. Heaney SP	7
J. Urena RP	11
J. Leclerc RP	14
J. Latz RP	17
J. Sborz RP	7
J. Hernandez RP	4
G. Anderson RP	4
C. Winn 1B	8
Y. Rodriguez RP	8
A. Pruitt RP	4
J. Leiter SP	2
B. Burke RP	5
O. White RP	1
Total	39

HITTING	G	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	2B	3B	SB	CS	FPTS
R. McMahon 3B	37	137	14	40	20	5	21	47	.292	.381	.460	.841	8	0	0	4	90
B. Doyle CF	36	134	22	37	11	4	7	42	.276	.317	.455	.772	8	2	4	1	88
E. Diaz C	33	119	14	37	19	3	7	22	.311	.359	.445	.804	7	0	0	0	85
E. Tovar SS	36	145	14	39	13	3	8	50	.269	.314	.400	.714	8	1	3	0	76
C. Blackmon RF	30	108	14	26	13	1	9	15	.241	.299	.370	.669	5	3	1	0	70
B. Rodgers 2B	33	115	14	28	8	1	8	32	.243	.293	.339	.632	6	1	0	0	53
E. Montero 1B	32	113	8	23	11	2	8	24	.204	.252	.283	.535	3	0	0	0	47
J. Stallings C	15	39	5	13	7	2	5	6	.333	.426	.538	.964	2	0	0	0	37
N. Jones LF	26	94	11	16	7	1	9	37	.170	.243	.277	.520	5	1	2	1	37
S. Bouchard RF	14	42	6	12	3	1	7	12	.286	.388	.476	.864	5	0	1	0	32
M. Toglia 1B	15	47	7	5	8	4	1	20	.106	.143	.362	.505	0	0	0	0	24
K. Bryant DH	13	47	3	7	6	1	4	18	.149	.273	.255	.528	2	0	0	0	20
J. Cave RF	23	34	4	7	3	0	3	11	.206	.263	.294	.557	1	1	0	0	14
H. Goodman RF	6	15	1	1	3	1	2	7	.067	.222	.267	.489	0	0	0	0	7
J. Beck OF	9	32	1	5	0	0	0	14	.156	.156	.188	.344	1	0	0	0	0
A. Trejo 2B	12	25	0	2	0	0	0	6	.080	.080	.080	.160	0	0	0	0	-1
Total	37	1246	138	298	132	29	99	363	.239	.300	.372	.672	61	9	11	6	679

HITTING	G
R. McMahon 3B	37
B. Doyle CF	36
E. Diaz C	33
E. Tovar SS	36
C. Blackmon RF	30
B. Rodgers 2B	33
E. Montero 1B	32
J. Stallings C	15
N. Jones LF	26
S. Bouchard RF	14
M. Toglia 1B	15
K. Bryant DH	13
J. Cave RF	23
H. Goodman RF	6
J. Beck OF	9
A. Trejo 2B	12
Total	37

PITCHING	GP	GS	W-L	SV	SVO	IP	ERA	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	BAA	WHIP	FPTS
C. Quantrill SP	8	8	2-3	0	0	45.2	3.94	42	20	20	7	17	31	.246	1.29	85
A. Gomber SP	7	7	0-2	0	0	38.0	3.79	36	16	16	7	13	25	.248	1.29	57
R. Feltner SP	7	7	1-3	0	0	39.0	5.54	47	26	24	5	10	36	.299	1.46	50
J. Beeks RP	15	0	2-2	1	2	17.1	2.60	11	7	5	2	8	14	.177	1.10	46
V. Vodnik RP	15	0	0-0	0	0	21.1	2.11	20	6	5	0	10	18	.250	1.41	38
J. Lawrence RP	13	0	1-2	2	3	13.0	5.54	14	11	8	0	6	13	.280	1.54	27
P. Lambert RP	10	3	2-2	0	0	23.2	7.61	31	20	20	3	9	20	.330	1.69	23
J. Bird RP	15	0	0-1	1	2	16.2	5.40	17	11	10	1	9	10	.270	1.56	20
T. Blach RP	4	1	0-1	0	0	13.0	3.46	12	5	5	0	3	5	.255	1.15	16
A. Molina RP	8	0	0-0	0	0	15.2	6.89	20	13	12	2	6	8	.333	1.66	13
T. Kinley RP	14	0	1-0	0	0	12.2	10.66	21	15	15	4	10	13	.375	2.45	5
N. Mears RP	15	0	0-3	0	0	14.2	5.52	16	9	9	1	10	17	.267	1.77	2
N. Davis RP	1	0	0-0	0	0	3.0	9.00	5	3	3	1	0	2	.357	1.67	2
D. Hudson SP	7	7	0-6	0	0	34.0	6.35	39	27	24	3	22	20	.285	1.79	-1
K. Freeland SP	4	4	0-3	0	0	15.2	13.21	32	25	23	3	8	9	.416	2.55	-27
Total	37	37	9-28	4	7	323.1	5.54	363	214	199	39	141	241	.285	1.56	356

PITCHING	GP
C. Quantrill SP	8
A. Gomber SP	7
R. Feltner SP	7
J. Beeks RP	15
V. Vodnik RP	15
J. Lawrence RP	13
P. Lambert RP	10
J. Bird RP	15
T. Blach RP	4
A. Molina RP	8
T. Kinley RP	14
N. Mears RP	15
N. Davis RP	1
D. Hudson SP	7
K. Freeland SP	4
Total	37

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