Here's When Cardinals New Ace Sonny Gray Will Make Spring Training Debut

St. Louis is about to get their first look at the high-priced newcomer

Scott Neville | Feb 25, 2024

Here's When Cardinals New Ace Sonny Gray Will Make Spring Training Debut /

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals won't have to wait much longer to watch their new ace in action.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak made a splash when he signed American League Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray to a notable three-year, $75 million deal in late November.

The 34-year-old star hurler has been gearing up behind the scenes thus far but is just days away from taking the mound in front of his new fanbase.

"Sonny Gray still on track to start on Tuesday," St. Louis Dispatch's Lynn Worthy reported Sunday. "Mikes Mikolas and Kyle Gibson lined up after that, but Cardinals are keeping the order flexible at this point as far as which one starts when."

Should everything go as planned, the right-hander will take on the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers at 1:05 p.m. ET -- where he'll likely toss two innings.

Unfortunately, that game is not going to be televised by either club's television network, though the CRN and WEEI radio broadcasts will be available for fans to get a glimpse into Gray's debut.

Gray posted a 2.79 ERA with a 183-to-55 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .226 batting average against and a 1.15 WHIP in 184 innings across 32 starts last season. He led Major League Baseball with a 2.83 FIP and 0.4 home runs allowed per nine innings for the Minnesota Twins.

Now the highly-anticipated Cardinals newcomer is in the process of gearing up for Opening Day.

He'll need all the preparation he can get as the first three players he's expected to face in the regular season will be the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar trio of second baseman Mookie Betts, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and first baseman Freddie Freeman.

More MLB: Cardinals Loosely Linked To Trio Of Shortstops As They Seek Middle Infield Help

Published Feb 25, 2024

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu