• All News
  • Editors Picks
  • About
    • Privacy Policy of the Nats Report
    • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
The Nats Report
Subscribe
  • All News
  • Quicknotes
  • Nationals News
  • Washington Nationals Minor League
    • Fredericksburg Nationals
    • Wilmington Blue Rocks
    • Harrisburg Senators
    • Rochester Red Wings
  • MLB News
No Result
View All Result
The Nats Report
  • All News
  • Quicknotes
  • Nationals News
  • Washington Nationals Minor League
    • Fredericksburg Nationals
    • Wilmington Blue Rocks
    • Harrisburg Senators
    • Rochester Red Wings
  • MLB News
Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
The Nats Report
No Result
View All Result

Perspective: What Makes Josiah Gray so Gray-t?

Haden by Haden
September 1, 2021
in All News, Featured, Perspectives
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
Perspective: What Makes Josiah Gray so Gray-t?

Image via Washington Nationals

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterEmail to a friend

On July 30th, 2021, the Washington Nationals traded away Trea Turner and Max Scherzer for four prospects from the Los Angeles Dodgers, including highly regarded starting pitcher Josiah Gray and catcher Keibert Ruiz. Gray had struggled in his first eight big league innings with the Dodgers, but he was still only 23 years old, with a lot of time to still develop into the frontline starter that many industry experts expected him to become. With four pitches: a four-seam fastball, curveball, slider, and changeup, Josiah attacks the zone, primarily using his curveball to get whiffs. He mostly uses sliders versus right-handed hitters and his changeup against left-handed hitters, and though he has not seen success from this approach, his expected numbers reinforce that it could work quite well for him over a larger sample. Gray excels at certain aspects of his game, like his ability to get whiffs and his curveball, but still has much room for improvement, like his overall repertoire.


Josiah Gray excels at missing bats. In fact, he is one of the best pitchers in the league at it. Of 381 all pitchers who have faced 150 batters, Gray ranks as the 19th best in whiff percentage. This is crucial for Gray’s success at the moment because when hitters do make contact, it tends to be for extra bases. This can be seen in his barrel percentage, which is the 9th highest in the league. Having a high barrel percentage is not necessarily a bad thing. Top closers Aroldis Chapman and Liam Hendriks are both in the top 15 in the league in this category, but their ability to get whiffs limits any sort of damage they could give up. If Gray can limit the opportunities for these extra-base hits he will have better odds for success.


The bread and butter pitch in Josiah Gray’s repertoire is his curveball. He has a .439 slugging against the pitch but gets whiffs on 60% of the 155 curveballs that he has gotten swings on, or approximately 45 curveballs. According to Statcast numbers, hitters have vastly overperformed against the curveball as well since it has a .274 expected slugging. One of the things that benefit Gray’s curveball is his height. At 6’1”, Gray is one of the shortest pitchers in the league. Being so short allows Gray to have one of the lowest extensions in the league. We have seen what extension can potentially do to a pitcher in Patrick Corbin and I believe we are seeing the reverse effect in Josiah Gray. This allows for what according to advanced metrics is a below-average curveball to overperform these metrics. This happens due to the curveball breaking farther from the plate, allowing it to drop more than it would if he had an average extension. Players with similar spin rates to Gray see success on their curveballs as well, but nowhere near the dominant 60 whiff percentage that Gray has.


One of Josiah Gray’s most glaring weaknesses is his repertoire. While he throws his four-seam and curveball to hitters on both sides of the plate, his slider and changeup are used almost exclusively against hitters on one side of the plate. Adding another pitch to use against right-handed hitters or developing his changeup so that it is a viable weapon against right-handed hitters, would go a long way. Just developing his changeup more would be beneficial given that he has only thrown 14 in all 574 that he has thrown this year would help. Another high-velocity pitch, like a sinker or cutter, would be beneficial as well. The cutter would be preferred because of its splits between both sides of the plate.

Previous Post

Series Preview: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals (August 30, 2021 – September 1, 2021)

Next Post

The new face under the mask: Riley Adams

Next Post
The new face under the mask: Riley Adams

The new face under the mask: Riley Adams

Latest on the Nats Report

The Rochester Red Wings Report: A rough start and the Washington Nationals Minor League Baseball perspective of a possible Soto trade

Red Wings Report: Abrams’ Call-Up and the End of the Losing Streak

August 15, 2022
Quick Note: Nationals reinstate RHP Hunter Harvey from 60 day IL

Quick Note: Nats Call Up #1 Prospect CJ Abrams

August 14, 2022
Game Recap: The Rochester Red Wings dropped their seventh consecutive game Wednesday night, 7-4, in front of the largest home crowd

Quick Notes: Game Preview: Rochester Red Wings look to win three in a row

August 13, 2022
Quick Notes: Game Recap: Edgar Garcia Homers, Senators fall 9-7 in 11 innings

Quick Notes: Game Preview: Senators and Reading Fightin Phils play game four of their six-game series tonight at FNB Field

August 13, 2022

Quick Notes: Game Recap: GreenJackets pull away from Fredericksburg Nationals late for a 7-4 win

August 13, 2022
Quick Notes: Game Preview: Altoona Curve (45-42) vs. Harrisburg Senators (35-52)

Quick Notes: Game Recap: Harrisburg Senators Fall in Extras 2-1 to Reading Fightin Phils

August 13, 2022
Quick Notes: [Video] A message of thanks from World Series Champion Juan Soto to Nats fans.

Quick Notes: [Video] A message of thanks from World Series Champion Juan Soto to Nats fans.

August 13, 2022

Quick Note: Padres, Fernando Tatis Jr. release statements surrounding suspension.

August 12, 2022

CATEGORY

  • All News
  • Breaking News
  • Business of Baseball
  • Editor's Picks
  • Entertainment
  • Fan Favorites
  • Fan Shots
  • Featured
  • Game Recaps
  • GameNotes
  • Health
  • In the ClubHouse
  • Interviews
  • Lockout 2022
  • Major League Baseball News
  • Minor League Baseball
  • Minor League Baseball News
  • Minor League Baseball Prospects
  • Perspectives
  • Player Profiles
  • Politics
  • Quicknotes
  • Random
  • Science
  • Series Preview
  • Special Reports
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • Technology in Baseball
  • The Morning Briefing
  • Washington Nationals Minor League News and Headlines
  • Washington Nationals News
  • Washington Nationals Prospects
  • World

SITE LINKS

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
  • Landing Page
  • All Features
  • Get JNews
  • Contact

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Homepage Layout 1
    • Homepage Layout 2
  • Politics
  • World
  • Science
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • Health

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Go to mobile version
[class^="wpforms-"]
[class^="wpforms-"]
[class^="wpforms-"]
[class^="wpforms-"]