Gray encouraged by results of MRI on elbow

SAN FRANCISCO – Though he’s now on the injured list for the first time in his major league career, Josiah Gray was encouraged to learn the strain in his elbow and forearm is not likely to keep him out as long as a more serious injury he believes he avoided.

Gray, who officially went on the 15-day IL today with what the Nationals have termed an elbow/forearm flexor strain, said an MRI taken in recent days showed his elbow ligament is intact, as well as all other forearm muscles. The right-hander doesn’t know a precise timetable yet for his absence, but he did not suggest it will be a prolonged absence.

“Overall, a positive outlook,” he said. “It sucks to miss time and not be out there helping the guys winning games. But it’s a part of what pitchers are and what we do. I’m just going to take it on the chin and take it day-by-day.”

Gray said he first noticed an issue following Thursday’s start against the Pirates, when he “just felt a little more banged-up than usual.” He attempted to throw his standard between-starts bullpen session over the weekend and still didn’t feel right, so he alerted the Nationals training staff and had tests taken.

The strain that was discovered via MRI was muscular in nature, affecting the flexor-pronator mass, not his ulnar collateral ligament. Given the recent spate of major pitching injuries throughout the sport, with a number of prominent big leaguers needing Tommy John surgery, Gray was relieved to learn his prognosis.

The 26-year-old struggled in his first two starts, allowing 13 runs and 15 hits in only 8 1/3 innings against the Reds and Pirates. But he insists those results weren’t the product of the injury, which only cropped up after the most recent outing.

“I know the first two starts I went into, I was completely confident,” he said. “Obviously the results didn’t go my way. But I took care of everything I could take care of leading up to the starts, during the starts, after the starts. Unfortunately, the body didn’t respond after this last one as best as I’d hoped.”

It’s the first IL stint of Gray’s major league career, his only prior injury coming early in the 2021 season when he was pitching in the minors with the Dodgers. That shoulder ailment sidelined him about six weeks. Since then, he has made every scheduled start, missing only a handful of outings when the Nats purposely skipped his turn in a proactive effort to minimize his workload.

Gray spoke up quickly when he first recognized the problem over the weekend, a decision that may have helped him avoid something more serious.

“As much as we want to be tough and play through things, sometimes there are things you can’t play through,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys that play in this clubhouse that I’m sure aren’t 100 percent. For me to have to speak up, it took a lot for me to vocalize that.”

Knowing there was a chance Gray wouldn’t be able to make his planned start tonight, the Nationals had Joan Adon meet them in San Francisco on Monday. The 25-year-old right-hander made one start for Triple-A Rochester a full 11 days ago and is plenty fresh for this, his 27th career big league start.

Adon was selected over Jackson Rutledge, the more highly touted prospect who looked like he was positioned to be the first starter called up from the minors when the need arose. The choice of Adon appears to have had more to do with the timing of this start and the organization’s desire to keep Rutledge on schedule in anticipation of his call-up at a later date.

“I wanted him to get a few more starts before we decide what we’re going to do,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I want him to go out there and really feel good about himself. He’s thrown the ball well, but we want to get him going. And then we’ll see where we are with him here in the near future.”

Gray remains with the Nationals on the road this week and will support his teammates while resting and getting treatment from the club’s medical staff. It’s a new position for him, one he hopes not to hold for long.

“It sucks. Ever since I joined the Nationals, I made every single start that I was scheduled to make. And I prided myself on doing that,” he said. “So obviously it’s a little bit of a gut punch to come to the ballpark and not be slated in the five-man rotation for the foreseeable future. It’s a harsh reality of what we do as pitchers, especially in today’s game. Injury risk is going up. It definitely gives you a sense of reality in what we do. Unfortunately, I have to miss some time, but I don’t think it’s going to change anything I really do.”