Rangers Starter Jon Gray Working on Sliders This Spring

Rangers starter Jon Gray is using Spring Training to work on a few pitches.

Wednesday was a promising day for the Texas Rangers and the starting rotation. Jacob deGrom threw a live batting practice in Surprise, Nathan Eovaldi threw a side bullpen and Jon Gray took the mound after his scheduled start last Friday was pushed back due to back tightness.

Gray threw 33 pitches in his three innings against Arizona, with a heavy emphasis on sliders.

"We wanted to see some good spin with [the slider]," Jon Gray told Inside The Rangers. "The sweeping [slider] wasn’t that great, but I’ve been throwing both sliders this camp. The short one was really great [Wednesday].

"Knowing I have that one in the back pocket, it makes you feel confident. I’m going to continue to use that the best I can and see if I can get the other one working, too."

Let’s add all this up. Gray is developing a second slider, two with different breaks. He used his changeup a few times in his last outing and hit 95 mph with his fastball.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy liked Gray’s slider, but made sure to point out the fastball. Bochy, the former San Francisco Giants manager, faced Gray often in the National League West. Gray played for the Colorado Rockies before coming to Texas.

"[Gray] has a really good fastball, his slider and change. He has a knack of getting better as the game goes," Bochy said. "That’s what you like about him. He settles in like a lot of good starters. He’s similar to what I saw in Colorado, which is a difficult place to pitch."

Gray still has things to work on during Spring Training, in addition to that sweeping slider. He said he felt slow to the plate in his last start.

However, Gray doesn’t feel he’s behind in his work. For his second spring start, Gray feels about where he expects to be, and the important thing is that he’s healthy.

The Rangers appear set to open the season with Gray part of a five-man rotation, but the possibility of using six starters hasn't been totally shot down.

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You can find Alex Plinck on Twitter @aplinckTX.

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