Were it not for a similarly spectacular ‘20 from Shane Bieber, King Kenta would have had a Cy Young trophy. A tip of the cap to the man they call Sonny Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images Kenta Maedaįor one shining short-sample season- 2020 (11 GS, 6-1, 66.2 IP, 2.70 ERA, 0.75 WHIP)- Maeda was the best Twin to toe the rubber since Johan Santana’s heyday. Louis Cardinals, I am similarly doubtful the Twins replace his numbers in their ‘24 starting staff. While I have my doubts that such a career renaissance will continue with the St. He was selected to the AL All-Star squad and finished second behind Gerrit Cole in AL Cy Young voting. The lack of double-digit wins was a bit astounding, but by any other metric Gray was co-ace alongside Pablo López. This past season? First in team bWAR with this sterling line: 32 GS, 8-8, 184 IP, 2.79 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, & 0.4 HR/9. In 2022, Gray was 7th on the team in bWAR despite pitching just 119.2 innings. Or, his random bouts of wildness that would instantly un-track a masterpiece start.īut when push came to shove, the numbers would always be there.

Truth be told, there were times when Sonny could rub folks the wrong way, such as his insistence on pitching deeper in contests when his resume in no way indicated that as a positive.

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