Cardinals' Gray will open season on IL with hamstring injury

The St. Louis Cardinals will be without their biggest offseason acquisition to start the year.

Right-hander Sonny Gray will open 2024 on the 15-day injured list due to a hamstring strain sustained in spring training, manager Oliver Marmol announced Friday, according to Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals signed Gray, last year's AL Cy Young runner-up, to a three-year, $75-million contract in November. His second Grapefruit League start ended early when he strained his hamstring, an injury that the team deemed to be "mild" at the time. After the injury, St. Louis scratched the 34-year-old from his scheduled Opening Day start in favor of Miles Mikolas.

The Cardinals plan to have Gray pitch in at least three minor-league outings before he makes his regular-season debut. He'll throw in a game Saturday after his scheduled appearance in Friday's minor-league contest was washed out by rain, according to Worthy.

Gray doesn't expect his IL stint to be long and thinks he'll be ready to make his regular-season debut "10-to-11 games" into the season, according to John Denton of MLB.com. That would put him on track to pitch at Busch Stadium on either April 7 against Miami or April 8 versus the Phillies.

Left-hander Zack Thompson, who enjoyed a solid spring training, will open the season in Gray's rotation spot as the club's No. 5 starter, Marmol said Friday. Matthew Liberatore, meanwhile, made the team as a reliever.

Gray, a three-time All-Star, posted a 2.97 ERA and an MLB-best 2.83 FIP along with 183 strikeouts in 32 starts for the Minnesota Twins last season.

Marmol also announced that outfielder Lars Nootbaar will open the season on the IL due to fractured ribs. He's the second Cardinals position player who will start his year on the sidelines, joining Tommy Edman, who continues to rehab from offseason wrist surgery.