This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato’s Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
WILMINGTON, Del. -- In the most uncertain time of Josiah Gray’s Major League career, he was able to be where he felt the most grounded.
Recovery from Tommy John surgery and an internal brace procedure required Gray to be at the Nationals’ training complex in West Palm Beach, Fla. It also meant he was home with his fiancée, Riley.
“It was a place of peace where there was one variable that always stayed the same,” Gray, 27, said.
Gray purchased his house in the West Palm Beach area a few years ago. It is convenient for Spring Training before he has to bounce between his place in Washington, D.C., and hotels on the road during the season.
But last year, Gray was shut down in early April. He underwent the procedures on July 24. Then came the year-plus of rehab.
“Riley was awesome,” Gray said. “She kept me grounded each and every day. When I’d come home after a bad day, we’d talk it through. She was that voice of reason that everything is going to be OK, you just have to stick with the process and the plan that’s set ahead. She’s great.”
After Gray attended the Nationals Homecoming Gala in Washington to usher in the regular season, he returned to Florida while the team prepared for Opening Day. Looking at the baseball calendar and seeing all the games he would miss, Gray said, “Time was sort of frozen.” But knowing he had a motivator in his corner helped the days, weeks and months progress.
“I think we kind of gloss over the rehab process; ‘Oh, it's rehab, you'll come back on the other side and you'll be better for it,’” Gray said. “I think enough isn't highlighted on just the day to day for how you have to deal with the good days, the bad days and everything in between. I think when you have to sit on the sidelines for so long, as I did the past two years, you appreciate every moment for what it is and try to get better each day.”
In the midst of Gray’s recovery, the longtime couple went to the movies. They planned their upcoming wedding. They cooked dinner together.
“She did probably 90 percent of it, but I would help out a good 10 percent,” Gray said with a smile. “Whether it's chopping ingredients or stirring the pot, whatever it may be, I was just trying to help out a little bit.”
Gray worked his way back in Florida until he was cleared to make his first rehab start this past Sunday with High-A Wilmington. That day, Riley was at the game, providing a sense of stability while Gray embarked on a key chapter of his recovery.
“It brought us closer together,” Gray said. “It really highlighted the strengths in our relationships to where we can sit in the same house for six months -- which isn't common in this game -- and we can be stronger than ever.”