I'm not sure any prospect in the system had a more disappointing 2024 than Gray. Upon trading Jackson Ferris to the Dodgers in the deal that brought back Michael Busch, it looked to many that Gray would turn into the heir-apparent when it came to the top lefty arms in the system. Gray had struggled in the past with walks, but the hope was that he could turn some of that around as he got further away from Tommy John surgery and that he'd find some footing and show improvement. Sadly for the Cubs and Gray, the control issues seemingly got worse at the start of the season, as the lefty walked one of every five hitters he faced. This limited, especially early in the season, his ability to go deeper into games. as Gray completed more than four innings just once before the MiLB All-Star Break.

If there's a positive, it's that there was improvement post-break, with Gray dropping his walk rate to 14.3% over his last 33 innings. This allowed the lefty to go longer, achieving 5+ innings in five of his final seven outings, while having a strikeout rate over 30%. Seven starts are hard to bank on moving forward, but there was some progress, and as we know, progress isn't linear. I suspect Gray will start in South Bend, but if he can continue his strike-throwing-ways, he could see Tennessee by early to mid-May. There's still a really good starting option here, and someone who I think has mid-rotation ceiling if the strike-throwing keeps up. So while it sounds doom-and-gloom, it's probably more that we just need to continue to be patient with the lefty. Pitching development is especially quirky, these days, and his raw materials remain intriguing.