Last week, on Thursday, Washington Nationals starter Josiah Gray struggled in a loss against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He conceded six runs in 4.1 innings of work that day.
There is a very high chance he was pitching hurt, though.
On Tuesday, the Nats decided to send their promising young righty to the injured list with, you guessed it, an elbow injury.
“Nationals pitcher Josiah Gray has been scratched from his start on Tuesday and placed on the 15-day IL,” FOX Sports: MLB tweeted.
Nationals pitcher Josiah Gray has been scratched from his start on Tuesday and placed on the 15-day IL pic.twitter.com/JHU8MM9HQf
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 9, 2024
You can add Gray to a growing list of pitchers who have suffered elbow injuries this season.
Gerrit Cole, Lucas Giolito, Shane Bieber, Spencer Strider, Framber Valdez, Eury Perez, and Jonathan Loaisiga are just a few names whose elbow ligaments have succumbed to the rigors of high-level pitching.
Gray is now part of that group, although his injury has been diagnosed as a flexor strain.
Flexor strains are not as bad as a torn UCL, but it could potentially lead to that outcome so the Nats need to be very careful.
Gray goes to the IL with an inflated 14.04 ERA, a 2.40 WHIP, and a 9/5 K/BB ratio across 8.1 innings this season.
On talent alone, he was supposed to be one of the top pitchers on the Nationals roster in 2024.
Injuries are rough and particularly unforgiving, though.
If the 4-6 Nationals are going to compete in 2024 or 2025, they need Gray healthy and resembling last year’s version, in which he returned a cool 3.91 ERA in 159 innings.
The Nats will be monitoring his status very closely.
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