Jon Gray 'Bracing' For Better Days with Rangers

The right-hander's impressive start against Tampa Bay, without his knee brace, could be a sign he's turning a corner

Jon Gray’s 12 strikeouts on Wednesday night seemed a little out of nowhere, given his season to that point. Was there some magic formula for the Texas Rangers right-hander?

Or maybe it was losing the knee brace that set him free?

On Wednesday, Gray didn’t wear the knee brace on his left knee for the first time since he returned from the injured list in the middle of May. The brace was necessary because when Gray returned for the first time in early May, he re-injured the knee.

Gray admitted afterward that it was a freeing experience.

“It’s much better,” Gray said. “I didn’t realize until I got (the brace) off how much it was really holding me back.”

The three starts with the brace, starting on May 16 against the Los Angeles Angels, saw Gray give up 19 hits, 11 runs and six walks while striking out 17. He struggled with giving up baserunners and runs early in starts.

Against Tampa Bay on Wednesday, Gray came out of the gate by retiring the first eight hitters and went a season-high seven innings. He gave up three hits, one run, two walks and struck out 12.

Gray’s start falls in line with that the Rangers have done in the past couple of weeks as a starting rotation.

Gray’s start capped a stretch in which Rangers starters went at least six innings in 11 of 14 games, dating back to May 18. From May 25 to June 1, Rangers starters went 6-2 with a 2.42 earned run average to drop the rotation’s overall ERA from 4.41 to a season-low 4.01.

Taylor Hearn’s loss on Thursday nudged the rotation’s ERA up a bit. But the rotation’s performance in May, anchored by Martin Pérez, is part of the reason the Rangers finally got to .500 after Tuesday’s victory over Tampa Bay.

“It’s been fun to watch and it’s really cool to be a part of,” Gray said. “We’ve been playing better baseball. And, I mean, I don’t think we’re at our peak yet. I think we’re just starting to get going. We’re playing close ballgames. We’re beating good teams. So we’re heading in the right direction.”

While Pérez’s performance has been off the charts and was a bit unexpected, Wednesday’s performance was more in line with what the Rangers were expecting from Gray when they signed the former first-round pick to a four-year, $56 million deal in December.

But, like the rest of the rotation, Gray started slowly. He made just two starts in April, thanks in part of the knee injury, and went 0-1 and gave up at least three runs in each game.

When he returned on May 3 against Philadelphia, he was able to make two starts, with the latter coming against the New York Yankees on May 9. He threw 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball before he re-injured the knee, causing him to miss his next start and leading to the use of the knee brace.

And it wasn’t a sleeve, either. It was the type of brace that you might see an offensive lineman wear.

The decision to remove the brace was made during Gray’s bullpen session before his start, a session that Rangers manager Chris Woodward said coaches called “electric.”

The electricity carried over to Wednesday, and Gray hopes it continues, sans brace.

“Yeah, I didn’t feel a single thing (in the knee after Wednesday),” Gray said. “I think I’m done with it.”

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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