Gray escapes trouble again but knows he can't rely on that forever

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Josiah Gray has danced this dance before. He did it on a regular basis last season, putting himself into jams and then getting himself out of them.

That success has given the Nationals right-hander the confidence to deal with such precarious situations. It has also made him realize he’d be better served not getting into those situations quite so often.

“I think every outing when I’m toeing that line … it’s kind of like: Here we go again,” he said. “I shouldn’t be putting myself in these positions.”

Gray kept doing it tonight during the Nationals’ 10-1 exhibition victory over the Astros. He allowed 10 of the 24 batters he faced to reach, seven via walk. And somehow he departed after five innings with only one run on the board.

“Not a pretty outing at all,” he said. “Kind of just laboring through things. Some of the walks, I felt like I was spraying the ball around. Some of the other walks, I felt like I was just missing them. I was lucky to only give up one today, but things could get a little different with that many runners on.”

It was in many ways eerily similar to a number of Gray’s outings during his 2023 All-Star campaign. Eight times last season he put at least eight batters on base but allowed two or fewer runs. Five times he did it while allowing one or fewer runs.

The problem usually involves walks more so than hits, and that was certainly the case tonight. Gray issued two free passes in the first inning, one in the third, two in the fourth and two more in the fifth. And yet only the first of those batters to draw a walk (leadoff man Jose Altuve) eventually scored.

Gray got out of jams with a strikeout of Jeremy Peña in the first, a double play off the bat of Chas McCormick in the third, a ground ball off the bat of Shay Whitcomb in the fourth and both a strikeout of Joey Loperfido and a popup from Peña with the bases loaded in the fifth. He also struck out All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner Kyle Tucker three times.

“The shape of his pitches were really good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “It’s his direction that gets a little wacky sometimes. I talked to him about it: ‘Your head has got to go to the catcher. When you do that, it’s really good. You don’t strike out Tucker like that if your stuff isn’t good. It’s just understanding what makes you that good, and it’s your direction.’"

It’s a bit surprising that Gray would still be having trouble striding straight toward the plate on each pitch, considering the way he condensed his delivery down to the bare minimum last September, nearly pitching as if he was out of the stretch even with nobody on base.

Martinez, though, wonders if the 26-year-old was dealing with some extra adrenaline tonight, knowing he had just been named the Nats’ Opening Day starter for the first time.

“He sometimes gets quick, and this time it could’ve been that he’s so amped up, because he’s got the first game,” Martinez said. “You could tell he started working a little faster. I told him: ‘Slow down. Just focus on one thing. Just focus on your direction. You’ve got to slow yourself down.’”

* Victor Robles enjoyed one of his best days of the spring, both at the plate and in the field.

Robles tracked all the way to deep right-center in the bottom of the fourth to rob Peña of what looked to be at least a double off the top of the wall, possibly a home run.

“Amazing,” Gray said. “Peña, a great hitter. I’ve known him for a few years. He was sitting on the 0-0 slider and put a really good swing on it. I didn’t know if it was going to go out or go off the wall, and then I saw Vic tracking it and I was like: ‘Man, he has a chance at it.’ And he jumped up and caught it. Hats off to him. That’s a heck of a catch, and his defensive abilities speak for itself.”

At the plate, Robles went 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored. He’s now batting .308 this spring.

* Nationals relievers collectively turned in another strong performance, further complicating the final roster decisions Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo will have to make in the next week.

Matt Barnes produced his third scoreless appearance since his delayed spring debut. Jordan Weems retired the side in his inning. Hunter Harvey struck out the side in the eighth (albeit against some daily call-ups from Houston’s minor league camp). And Dylan Floro had his second straight scoreless inning, striking out two, as the veteran returns from a sore shoulder earlier in camp.