The Red Sox placed Sonny Gray on the 15-day injured list on April 21 with a right hamstring strain, one day after he left his start against Detroit with tightness in the same area. Tyler Samaniego was recalled in the corresponding move, and Gray was scheduled for an MRI on April 22.
Gray said he and Alex Cora did not believe the injury was serious, but Boston moved quickly anyway after watching the right-hander exit after 2 2/3 innings of an 8-6 win over Detroit. He allowed one run before leaving, then the bullpen covered the rest with seven relievers.
The caution is easy to understand. Gray had already missed time with strains of the same hamstring in 2022 and 2024, so even a strain that sounds minor carries some history for Boston. He was in his first season with the club and had gone 23 innings with a 4.30 ERA and a 13% strikeout rate, production that has been uneven even before the latest setback.
Gray would have been eligible to return on May 6, but the Red Sox had little reason to rush. Boston was heading into divisional series against the Yankees, Orioles and Blue Jays before an off day on April 30, and the club was already considering whether to use a fifth starter or a bullpen game while he is out. That leaves Cora managing both the medical uncertainty and the workload question, a familiar kind of problem for a team that has not yet settled its rotation.
The next few days should clarify how much this costs Boston. The MRI on April 22 will tell the club whether the strain is truly short term, but the schedule may end up mattering almost as much as the scan.