MLB PLAYER NEWS

Rockies RHP Gray to make major league debut

The Sports Xchange

August 04, 2015 at 4:17 am.

Gray is 6-6 with a 4.33 ERA in 21 games 20 starts, at Triple-A Albuquerque. He started slowly, but in his past 10 starts, Gray is 3-1 with a 3.48 ERA and 23 walks and 69 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Gray is 6-6 with a 4.33 ERA in 21 games 20 starts, at Triple-A Albuquerque. He started slowly, but in his past 10 starts, Gray is 3-1 with a 3.48 ERA and 23 walks and 69 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

DENVER — Colorado Rockies right-hander Jon Gray, the third overall pick in the 2013 draft, will make his major league debut Tuesday and start against the Seattle Mariners.

“We felt like we’d see him at some point this year, and that day has arrived,” manager Walt Weiss said before the Rockies lost 8-7 to the Mariners. “I’m excited to see him out there, but we got to remember that he is a young kid and (he’ll) go through some of the growing pains that young players go through at this level. But he’s certainly a very talented kid and we’re looking forward to seeing him.

“I think he’s grown up a lot in the last year. I think he’s ready for this.”

Gray is 6-6 with a 4.33 ERA in 21 games 20 starts, at Triple-A Albuquerque. He started slowly, but in his past 10 starts, Gray is 3-1 with a 3.48 ERA and 23 walks and 69 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings.

The Rockies’ starting pitching has been iffy this season, and there were clamors by fans and media for Gray to be promoted. “But bottom line,” Rockies player development director Zach Wilson said, “we weren’t going to send him (up) until he was absolutely ready for the challenge.”

The Rockies kept Gray at Triple-A so he could improve his efficiency — Gray was too often throwing 100 pitches to get through five or six innings — and to gain consistency with his slider and changeup and work on some of the finer points of his position such as holding runners and fielding.

“Obviously there have been times when we could have called him up earlier in the year,” Wilson said. “We could have sent him up in May, and he would have been fine. But we’re not trying to create a fourth or fifth starter. We want a No. 1 starter because he has that kind of ability. To bring him up before he was ready would have been a disservice to him and the team.”

Gray said he wasn’t expecting the promotion especially on the Rockies’ current three-game homestand. Gray got the news Sunday night at Fresno, when Albuquerque manager Glenallen Hill handed Gray a plane ticket to Denver.

“When it happened, it didn’t hit me at first,” Gray said. “But it did later. It’s just now coming into effect what it feels like. It was an awesome high, an awesome high.

“I feel good, definitely feel good. I feel like I’ve been getting better throughout the season.”