In May of last year, he ranked among the top starters in baseball, posting a remarkable 1.95 ERA across five starts, and finished the first half of the season with a 3.29 ERA. During the World Series, he proved to be highly effective as a long reliever in the Texas Rangers’ bullpen. When he’s on form, his pitching prowess is undeniable.

Through the first eight games of the season, the right-handed pitcher has been the least productive starter for the Texas Rangers. In his initial start of the season last Sunday, the Chicago Cubs scored five runs off him, and he couldn’t complete the fourth inning in Saturday’s game against the Houston Astros.

Gray has only managed to produce one 1-2-3 inning in the first eight innings he has pitched so far this season, which occurred during the second inning of Saturday’s victory against the Astros. His WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched) stands at 2.45 after pitching 7.1 innings in his first outings.

Gray has thrown a total of 151 pitches, with only 83 of them being strikes. In both of his initial starts, lasting just 3.2 innings each, he walked three batters. Interestingly, the expected batting average on batted balls in play against him ranks within the fourth-lowest percentile league-wide. Additionally, he has allowed 11 batters to reach base in two-out scenarios.

One of Gray’s most notable moments occurred when he faced Houston designated hitter Yordan Alvarez on Saturday. Despite falling behind in the count early and throwing three consecutive balls to Alvarez in the first inning, Gray managed to make a remarkable comeback and struck him out with a fastball.

Notably, Alvarez had a .743 on-base percentage in 3-0 counts last season, making Gray’s achievement particularly impressive.