Reds moving towards Sonny Gray trade

[CJD]

That is an absolutely spectacular deal. basically 4 years/ 38 million for a pitcher who was considered a top end starting pitcher a year and a half ago.

Last year, these are his home and away splits.


The away numbers are insanely better than his home splits.
The natural inclination is to think that must have to do with pitching in a hitter's parks like Yankee Stadium (and GABP).

But it doesn't seem like pitching at home is that big of a disadvantage for Yankees pitchers, as the rest of the staff, nearly uniformly, performed better at home than away.

So it must be fly balls right?

Well, Gray is actually a pretty great groundball pitcher, ranking 7th among pitchers with 130 or more innings pitched.

So what's the deal?

The idea that he just doesn't meld with the Yankees, a high pressure high expectations situation, is something that has been thrown around and it has merit. It may be an entirely mental thing.

These two articles really sold me on the potential for Gray bouncing back in a big way in 2019:
http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/25385411/here-why-other-teams-want-new-york-yankees-sonny-gray
https://www.redreporter.com/2019/1/21/18189845/reds-yankees-trade-sonny-gray-shed-long