Okay. I guess we need to talk about it. We need to unpack how the Yankees can outscore the Red Sox 18-2 and sweep the (horribly formatted) AL Wild Card Series, and instead of talking about that horrific defeat, we’re talking about a pitcher’s dirty neck.
The internet is abuzz with a rumor that Sonny Gray had “sticky stuff” on his neck during the September 30 game. People are so determined to drag him through the mud that they haven’t stopped for a second to question whether it is actually true. No, they’re not here for the truth. They’re here for the scandal and drama.
AL Wild Card Game 2 – Red Sox @ Yankees
Is his neck dirty? Yep. Would I describe it, as one person put it, as “thick, gooey paste”? No. It looks like a mixture of dirt from the mound, sweat, and rosin.
Stats, Like Hips, Don’t Lie
But let’s not just consider what it looks like. Let’s consider what it would mean statistically. Buckle up, I’m going to get super nerdy here.
Let’s look at Gray’s previous statistics at Yankees Stadium:
July 7, 2015 (OAK): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 5 K
September 8, 2022 (MIN): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 7 K
June 5, 2026 (BOS): 6.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 K
That’s 19.1 innings, 15 strikeouts, 7 ER, and a 3.26 ERA.
If we add in the Sept. 30 game, he gets another 4 2/3 innings, 2 ER, and 5K. So altogether, that looks like:
July 7, 2015 (OAK): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 5 K
September 8, 2022 (MIN): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 7 K
June 5, 2026 (BOS): 6.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 K
Boston, AL Wild Card Game 2: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 K
With that game, he now has 24 innings, 20 strikeouts, and 9 ER, and his ERA has risen to 3.38. According to MLB, Craig Carton, the umpires found no abnormalities during their mid-inning checks of his glove, hands and hat, and Gray’s spin was not elevated relative to his regular-season starts.
Full Season
But what if we widen our view by comparing his full-season average to the Sept. 30 game?
| Metrics | 2026 Reg Season | Sept 30 | Game VS Season |
| ERA | 2.72 | 3.86 | Worse |
| WHIP | 1.148 | 1.286 | Worse |
| H/9 | 7.88 | 11.57 | Worse |
| HR/9 | 0.85 | 1.93 | Worse |
| BB/9 | 2.45 | 0.00 | Better |
| K/9 | 7.93 | 9.64 | Better |
The stats show that Sonny performed better throughout the season, on average, than he did on September 30. While his 0 walks were a great improvement, his 5Ks matched his average almost exactly.
It was also his fifth-shortest start of the year, although being taken out early isn’t necessarily a verdict on how well someone pitched.
Spin Me Right Round
But let’s wade in a little further! Spin-rate is a useful stat when discussing “sticky stuff” because the goal is often to speed up the ball’s spin.
During the Season
| Pitch | Average Spin |
| Sweeper | 2,683 rpm |
| Cutter | 2,631 rpm |
| Curveball | 2,605 rpm |
| 4-Seam Fastball | 2,480 rpm |
| Sinker | 2,362 rpm |
| Changeup | 1,747 rpm |
We have limited data on the day-of stats, but I’ll use the pitches I have access to from MLB.com:
- Sweeper K to Ben Rice: 2,526 rpm
- Sweeper K to Lombard: 2,549 rpm
- Sweeper K to McMahon: 2,563 rpm
- Sinker K to Spencer Jones: 2,295 rpm
- Sinker K to Lombard: 2,221 rpm
- Sweeper HR by Luis García Jr.: 2,414 rpm
The six pitches listed here had lower spin rates than Sonny’s season averages for those pitch types. That doesn’t give us an average for the entire outing, but these examples don’t show a spin-rate increase.
So what changed noticeably in his stats during this game?
Hit Me With Your Best Pitch
One noticeable change for Sonny during the Sept. 30 game was his pitch selection. Sonny moved away from his love of the Cutter and leaned further into his Sinker and Four-Seam Fastball.
Let’s dive in with some Baseball Savant stats.
Pitch Comparison
| Pitch | Season Usage | Sept 30 Usage |
| Sweeper | 20.5% | 20.0% |
| Cutter | 18.8% | 1.4% |
| Curveball | 15.9% | 14.3% |
| 4-Seam Fastball | 17.3% | 28.6% |
| Sinker | 21.7% | 31.4% |
| Changeup | 5.7% | 4.3% |
The different pitching choices suggest a different game plan heading into the Sept. 30 game.
But why would he make these changes now? If we look back at his last few starts before he returned to Yankee Stadium, we can better understand his trends.
| Pitch | Sept. 11 | Sept. 17 | Sept. 23 | Sept 30 |
| Sweeper | 24.4% | 25.5% | 22.1% | 20.0% |
| Cutter | 16.7% | 18.6% | 7.8% | 1.4% |
| Curveball | 13.3% | 5.9% | 11.7% | 14.3% |
| 4-Seam | 12.2% | 15.7% | 28.6% | 28.6% |
| Sinker | 26.7% | 28.4% | 18.2% | 31.4% |
| Chgup | 6.7% | 5.9% | 11.7% | 4.3% |
By Sept. 23, his Cutter usage had already dropped to about 8%, while his Four-Seam Fastball was up to roughly 29%. A week later, the Four-Seam usage was almost identical, and the Cutter was down to one pitch. This table shows that Sonny didn’t come into the Yankees game and change everything about his pitching style. He mostly just continued the trend he’d already set.
So, what can we take from this? If we consider that there aren’t large outliers in spin-rate and pitching ability, there is no statistical evidence that conclusively shows he did anything illegal to get ahead.
Same Old Pitch and Dance
If there’s one thing that you should know about Sonny on the mound, it’s that he is a twitchy guy. He wiggles, tucks and retucks his shirt, pulls at his pants, neck, sleeves, belt, and shirt. And yes, he touches his neck… sometimes from the left, sometimes from the right. Many videos show him doing just that.
Is the argument going to become, “Has Sonny been cheating for years?” Or is there a chance for all of us to take a deep breath and maybe not condemn him without actual evidence beyond a blurry, in-motion picture of a dirty neck from a game where he stands on a mound of dirt?
During the Sept. 30 game, the umpires checked his glove, hands, and hat throughout. They reportedly didn’t find anything. The ever-suspicious Yankees dugout had no reported objections about Sonny’s behavior or neck, and neither did the umpire crew.
And yet, somehow, this rumor has graduated to “fact” for a whole lot of people. Without actual evidence, this rumor has become one of the most talked-about parts of that game, with very few actually giving him the benefit of the doubt.
There isn’t a failed inspection. We don’t know of a complaint from the opposing team. There isn’t some massive spike in spin-rate screaming from the statistics. What we have is a dirty neck, a move he’s made plenty of times before, and the internet doing what it does best: taking a blurry screenshot and giving it more meaning than it deserves.
No matter what he did or did not do, if we’re going to make that accusation, I think we should probably require a little more evidence than “Look at his neck.”
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