Red Sox Fans Will Love What Sonny Gray Just Said About Hating The Yankees

Freshly-acquired Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray was once a member of the New York Yankees, but that doesn’t mean he wanted to be.

Red Sox fans will love to find out that Gray actually didn’t enjoy his Yankees experience and is excited to be in a position to hate them, now having joined New York’s greatest rival.

During a Zoom interview on Tuesday described by NESN’s Lou Merloni as “very entertaining”, Gray said that, “It’s easy to go to a place now where it’s easy to hate the Yankees,” per Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Sonny came across as supremely confident during the interview, and he wasn’t afraid to talk about his value. “I spin the ball better than anyone in baseball,” Gray said, per Speier. “That’s a fact.”

Gray, 36, wasn’t a member of the Yanks for long. He arrived in the Bronx on July 31, 2017, in a blockbuster trade from the Athletics for prospects Dustin Fowler, Jorge Mateo, and James Kaprielian. In his debut against Cleveland, he tossed six innings but allowed four runs, setting a tone of inconsistency.

Over 41 appearances (34 starts) from 2017 to 2018, Gray posted a 15-16 record with a 4.51 ERA in pinstripes, striking out 153 batters in 162 1/3 innings. Road outings showed promise at 3.17 ERA, but Yankee Stadium proved brutal for Gray: 6.98 ERA in 11 starts, plagued by eight home runs in 28 2/3 innings. However, a recent account from ex-teammate Erik Kratz points to pitching coach Larry Rothschild’s rigid pitch-calling as a key frustration for Gray, limiting Gray’s curveball usage and eroding his confidence.

The Yankees traded Sonny to Cincinnati on January 21, 2019, for infielder Shed Long and a draft pick. Now in Boston, he will have a great opportunity to make life worse for the Yankees in 2026 (and possibly beyond).