Manager Dave Martinez said Wednesday that Gray will start the second game of the Nationals' season-opening series with the Mets, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports.
Gray is tentatively lined up to start Friday, though Martinez acknowledged that the right-hander may be moved back to Saturday if Thursday's season opener is postponed due to rain being in the forecast that day in Washington D.C. Though Gray's spot in the rotation was never believed to be in any jeopardy, fantasy managers may be best off treading carefully with the 24-year-old, who struggled with both his command and control as a rookie. He showed improvement in the latter area by posting a 13:1 K:BB over 9.2 innings during the Grapefruit League season, but he surrendered five home runs en route to finishing the exhibition slate with a 9.31 ERA.