Red Sox Teammates Have Perfect Reaction To Sonny Gray's Yankees Dig

Boston Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray seemed more than happy to establish who his newest arch-enemy was on Tuesday.

In his introductory Zoom press conference a week after being traded to Boston by the St. Louis Cardinals, Gray took aim at the New York Yankees, who he pitched for from 2017 to 2018 and struggled more than he has at any other stop in his five-team career.

Gray said that he “never wanted to go there in the first place," of New York, and he was glad to be headed to "a place now where it’s easy to hate the Yankees." He's quickly drawing ire from Yankees fan circles, but his new teammates are loving his attitude.

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Red Sox players react to Gray's comments

On Tuesday, current Red Sox players Connor Wong, Payton Tolle, and Connelly Early gave their takes on Gray's first words representing Boston while volunteering for Wonderfund of Massachusetts to support their annual Gift Drive.

“Obviously you love that,” Wong said, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. “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.”

“It’s good to have somebody that’s like-minded," Tolle added with a laugh, per Smith.

Meanwhile, Early, who pitched the Red Sox's final game of the season in the playoffs at Yankee Stadium, was looking forward to having the three-time All-Star on his side for the next chapter of the rivalry.

“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," said Early, per Smith.

Gray is setting himself up to be judged in large part by how he handles the Yankees, for better or worse. Not only did he have his worst seasons in a Yankees uniform, but he also sports a career ERA of 6.06 in 101 innings at Yankee Stadium. He also gave up six earned runs on nine hits in his start against the Yankees in St. Louis this year.

One can't help but notice, as well, that the rhetoric from players in the rivalry is getting chippy again, beginning with Red Sox starter Hunter Dobbins during the season and escalating with Yankees starter Cam Schlittler after dominating Boston in the same game Early started.

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