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Red Sox teammates ‘love’ Sonny Gray’s ‘easy to hate the Yankees’ remark
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- Red Sox teammates ‘love’ Sonny Gray’s ‘easy to hate the Yankees’ remark
NEWTON — Newest Red Sox starter Sonny Gray said Tuesday that his time with the Yankees in 2017-18 “just wasn’t a good situation” for him.
The 36-year-old righty, who Boston acquired for pitching prospect Brandon Clarke and righty Richard Fitts , said he “never wanted to go there in the first place.” He added that does appreciate his time with New York because the experience made him a better baseball player and husband.
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Gray waived his no-trade clause to pitch for Boston .
“I will say what did factor into my decision to come to Boston is it feels good to me to go to a place now where it’s easy to hate the Yankees,” Gray said on the Zoom call with the Boston media on Tuesday. “It’s easy to go out and have that rivalry and go in it with full force, full steam ahead. I like the challenge. I appreciate the challenge. I accept the challenge.”
While Gray was doing his introductory press conference, several Red Sox teammates were volunteering at the Wonderfund warehouse, loading thousands of gift donations into cars.
When they were told what Gray said about being a place where he can hate the Yankees, his new teammates seemed pumped.
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“Obviously you love that,” catcher Connor Wong said. “I think growing up for me personally I wasn’t a huge fan of theirs, so I love that out of him and very excited to have him.”
Why did Wong dislike the Yankees while growing up just outside of Houston , Texas ?
“Honestly, I can’t give you an exact reason,” Wong said. “I just know I didn’t like them. Something stuck with me.”
Red Sox rookie Payton Tolle added with a laugh, “It’s good to have somebody that’s like-minded.”
Tolle, who showed with Boston in late August and September that he pitches with an edge, said he “absolutely” thinks he and Gray share a similar type of passion.
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“We all know what we want to do and what it takes,” Tolle said. “He’s done it and he’s been successful for however many years. It’s gonna be a good guy to look to.”
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow recently said Gray thinks both he and ace Garrett Crochet can push each other to be better .
Gray also should be able to help out some of the young pitchers like Tolle who is focused on improving his secondary pitches. Gray himself throws five different secondary pitches and ranked in 97th percentile in breaking ball run value (14) in 2025. Opponents went just 32-for-212 (.151) against his sweeper.
“I think it’s going to be incredible,” Tolle said. “I’ve heard nothing but great things about him. So I’m excited to get to know him a little bit and pick his brain. I’m gonna try to keep asking plenty of questions.”
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Rookie Connelly Early added about Gray, “I think he’s a really big, competitive guy out there, and that’s somebody that you want behind Crochet, want in the lineup. And he’s a great player. So great addition.”
Wong said he has texted Gray and hopes to connect with him soon.
“Look forward to working with him,” Wong said.
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