SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Jon Gray — the pitcher and the person — has been dissected, evaluated and psychoanalyzed ever since the Rockies selected him with the third overall pick in the 2013 draft.
Gray, 27, says he doesn’t read or pay attention to any of that. His focus, he insists, is on pitching.
This spring, Gray’s focal point is his slider. It was a nasty, 90 mph, much-celebrated, put-away pitch when he was drafted out of Oklahoma, but it has caused him considerable consternation over the last two seasons.
“I would say that the most frustrating thing about big-league baseball for me is losing the pitch that worked so well for me in 2016.