Who is Sonny Gray?  He is highly regarded as the best pitching prospect in the Oakland Athletics farm system now that Daniel Straily has cemented himself as a starter for the A’s in the absence of Brett Anderson.  Of course he is the best prospect, the guy was the first round pick of the A’s in 2011, 18th overall, out of Vanderbilt University.  Gray had one demand when he was drafted by the A’s, and that was that he would go straight to AA because he felt he learned what he would learn in the rookie league and A level in college.  The A’s obliged and Gray went straight to the Midland Rockhounds as soon as he was done with school.

Gray only pitched 20 innings in his short stint in Midland during the 2011 season, but those 20 innings showed signs of greatness.  He walked only six, struck out 18 and had a staggering ERA of .45.  In 2012, his first full season with Midland, Gray was not as lights out, but he was still consistent and got a late call up to the AAA Sacramento River Cats to replace the aforementioned Straily as a reward.  2012 was not pretty statistically, but it was good enough to keep him at AAA for the current 2013 season.  This is where the first round pick is really starting to shine and get notice.  Gray is currently 6-3 with a 2.43 ERA in 11 starts, with 25 walks and 71 strikeouts in 70.1 innings pitched.  His performance this year for the Cats has A’s fans wondering, how long before he gets called up?

Not when, but how long, that is how people have been wording it.  The answer is simple, Gray will get called up when he is needed, and not a moment earlier.  With the scandal hovering around Bartolo Colon, and the fact that Colon is 40 years old, it seems to be a matter of time before he is either suspended or spends time on the DL.  If it is not him, it could be any one of the other current starters that could catch the injury bug.  A.J. Griffin spent some time last season on the DL with an oblique issue, and front offices are always worried about how many pitches these young arms throw, so the A’s very well could need a spot starter to rest one of these young starters.  So, it is not when he will get called up, but how long. And why not?  The guy is a first round pick, and now that he seems to have found a rhythm at the AAA level, it’s time to take the next step and see if he can do what Straily and Griffin did last year, help the A’s win.