Sonny Gray Injury: Updates on A's Pitcher's Back and Return

Sonny Gray is having his best season as a professional, but the Oakland Athletics star missed his Aug. 13 start with a back injury. Despite the scare, the ace pitcher will return to the mound on Monday against the Baltimore Orioles, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

On Aug. 14, Slusser reported Gray was feeling much better after throwing for about 15 minutes. According to Slusser, Gray added that he was excited to face Clayton Kershaw in the start he missed but didn't want to put his team in a bad position.

Gray, 25, made his first All-Star team this season and has been one of the lone bright spots for an Oakland team that has struggled this year, establishing himself as a clear No. 1 starter.

He showed his promise a year ago, going 14-10 with a 3.08 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 183 strikeouts in 219 innings, but this season, he's proved to be one of the American League's top arms. In 23 starts, the 2011 first-round pick is 12-4 with a 2.06 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP and 136 strikeouts in 161.2 innings, making him a leading candidate for the American League Cy Young Award.

"You never know which Sonny is going to show up," Athletics first baseman Ike Davis said of the team's ace before the All-Star Game, per John Hickey of InsideBayArea.com. "Sometimes it's All-Star Sonny. Sometimes it's Cy Young Sonny."

That makes the loss devastating for a team that's already struggling this year.

Gray's starts are the team's best chances at victory, and his continued development and ascension to stardom have been some of the reasons why the Athletics aren't worse than their 51-67 record indicates.

A playoff berth is highly unlikely regardless of Gray's status, with Oakland currently 10 games back in the wild-card race. If the dominant righty is unable to return soon, though, any remaining excitement surrounding the team will essentially be gone.