Cincinnati Reds place Sonny Gray on injured list

It was inevitable, really, the news we’d get after Sonny Gray abruptly exited his start last night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

When warming up for the Top of the 4th for the Cincinnati Reds in GABP, he felt something tweak, and immediately shut things down, with the training staff out to check on him at his bequest. It was pretty clear he was favoring his right leg, and the only question remaining was how severe the issue would be.

Today, the Reds placed him on the 10-day IL, and recalled reliever Art Warren to help bolster the staff temporarily until Sonny’s replacement in the starting rotation is determined when his spot is due up this weekend.

Sonny spoke openly to reporters about it after the game last night, indicating that he was making a calculated decision to call time on it now instead of risking a much larger injury by trying to power through it, something that hopefully will help limit just how long he’s on the sideline. Still, he even seemed to indicate it will be a multi-week thing, something that comes as yet another blow to a Reds pitching staff that has struggled mightily with both injury and underperformance this year.

Heck, it’s already the second IL issue for Sonny himself this season. Add-in that Michael Lorenzen has been out all year, Jeff Hoffman is shelved, Wade Miley missed time, Luis Castillo and Amir Garrett haven’t been anything close to as expected, and there’s a reason why there’s a bloated collective ERA on a staff that was so promising as recently as just last season.

Hopefully, this will only be Sonny missing 2-3 turns in the rotation, and in theory it will likely open up the opportunity for Tony Santillan to make his big league debut in that time. For now, though, Warren joins the beleaguered bullpen to help them for a few days before that gets determined.

Get well soon, Sonny.