Sonny Gray will get his first taste of the fiercest rivalry in sports Sunday when he faces the Boston Red Sox as a member of the New York Yankees for the first time.
The Yankees acquired the right-hander at the Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline in exchange for three prospects in what appeared to be a move to counter the Red Sox’s offseason acquisition of left-hander Chris Sale.
The Red Sox landed Sale while giving up a package of prospects in December, which led Yankees general manager Brian Cashman to playfully dub them the “Golden State Warriors” of MLB.
In Sale, the Red Sox found an ace who gives them a chance to win every fifth day, can spearhead a playoff rotation and has had no problem thriving in the pressure cooker of Boston,
And that’s exactly what the Yankees hope Gray can be for them.
New York signed right-hander Masahiro Tanaka before the 2014 season, and while Tanaka has shown the ability to dominate big-league lineups, his tenure in New York also has been plagued by a myriad of arm issues.
So, the Yankees went out and got Gray to combat their division rivals’ acquisition of a true ace. They only hope he can deliver on the field in the same way Sale has for Boston.
The Red Sox left-hander is putting up historic numbers in his first in the American League East, and he’s been especially dominant against the Yankees. Even after Saturday’s rough outing, Sale boasts a 2.12 ERA against New York in 2017 and is 4-3 with a 1.51 ERA in his career against the Bronx Bombers.
But the Yankees’ new right-hander hasn’t exactly dominated the Red Sox in his short MLB career. Gray enters Sunday 1-2 with a 5.16 ERA in four career starts against Boston. As he’ll soon learn, though, the first step to succeeding as a member of either of these storied franchises is to dominate your rival.
Gray will get his first crack at the Sox on Sunday, as the Yankees will see if they now have an answer for Sale.
Thumbnail photo via Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports Images
