Nationals’ Josiah Gray to undergo season-ending surgery
Here we go again — another pitcher is out for the year due to season-ending surgery.
Josiah Gray of the Nationals has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his pitching elbow and will miss the rest of 2024, the team announced.
Gray follows other pitchers sidelined during the season with year-ending arm injuries, including Braves ace Spencer Strider, John Means and Tyler Wells of the Orioles, Jonathan Loaisiga of the Yankees and Brooks Raley of the Mets.
ESPN reported Gray’s elbow will be operated on by Dr. Keith Meister on Wednesday.
The evaluation could reveal a need for Tommy John surgery, but that has not yet been determined.
“He was emotional. I got emotional,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said regarding his encounter with Gray following the news of the injury. “He’s special because he cares a lot about this organization.”
Gray, 26, also discussed the elbow injury.
“It’s a setback. We can all admit that,” Gray said. “But it is something, you know, you can grow from, you can learn from, and come back better. And in talking with all my friends around baseball, I’ve been able to just understand that it is, you know, just a blip on the radar.”
“It’s not going to be the end of my story,” he later added.
![Washington Nationals starting pitcher Josiah Gray, center, leaves during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Washington.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Nationals_Gray_Baseball_19676-3846c.jpg?w=1024)
Gray, 26, only started two games this season before going down in early April.
The injury-shortened season follows a career-best campaign in 2023, which landed him his first All-Star appearance, as he posted a 3.91 ERA and struck out 143.
Gray was originally acquired by Washington in July 2021 in a trade that saw Max Scherzer and Trea Turner land with the Dodgers.
Gray, who made his MLB debut that year, has a career 4.84 ERA.
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