Sonny Gray leads the league in wild pitches, and the A’s are perfectly happy that he do so. Most of the time.
The movement Gray has on his pitches is like nothing most other pitchers can muster. Batters swing and miss at his stuff all the time, even when it’s in the dirt, one of the reasons he was an All-Star last year.
Gray generally isn’t bothered by wild pitches, mostly because he’s able to pitch around the potential damage they cause. Friday night in Great American Ball Park, he couldn’t.
His first wild pitch came with the A’s in a 1-0 lead and gave the Reds their first runner in scoring position.