What can help Seattle Mariners RHP Kirby reach another level

It’s been clear since he debuted with the Seattle Mariners in 2022 that starting pitcher George Kirby is a special talent.

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After all, pitchers who touch the upper-90s rarely have the kind of pinpoint command that draws comparisons to Hall of Famer Greg Maddux.

Kirby has capitalized on those special talents in the early stages of his big league career. He was sixth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 despite not debuting until more than a month into the season. In 2023, he was an All-Star. And over his first three seasons, he never posted an ERA above 3.53 or a walk rate above 4.1%.

The right-hander did have an inconsistent year last season, but that could be at least partially contributed to a delayed start to his season. Kirby went on the injured list for the first time in his career, missing the first two months of the campaign with right shoulder inflammation.

After a down year by the one-time All-Star’s standards, Kirby enters 2026 as one of the Mariners’ clearest candidates for a bounce-back season. And perhaps there’s still another level for him to reach.

During Wednesday’s edition of Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy, co-host Stacy Rost said she thinks there’s still some untapped potential for Kirby. Yahoo Sports’ Jordan Shusterman explained what he thinks could help Kirby take his game to another level.

“I think with him what’s always interesting, and this is true for really all of these pitchers but especially with him and Logan (Gilbert) and Bryce (Miller), just the number of pitches that they throw. You really don’t know exactly what is the secondary pitch that is going to help him get to the next level,” Shusterman said.

“I think Logan Gilbert clearly figured that out with his splitter. That unlocked the level of swing and miss that he wasn’t getting earlier in his career, and that’s something that Kirby I think is still looking for.”

Kirby did post the highest whiff rate of his career last season at 26.7%, which ranked in the 61st percentile among qualified pitchers. It was the first time in his career his whiff rate was above league average. However, he still didn’t have a clear put-away secondary pitch.

Kirby got his most strikeouts (51) on his four-seamer, and had 26 more with his sinker. The 33 strikeouts on his slider was the most he got on a non-fastball. Meanwhile, Gilbert struck out 90 batters with his splitter compared to 31 on fastballs.

“Maybe it is a splitter, maybe it’s another breaking ball. We know he’s capable of adding a lot of pitches, but the command is always going to be there,” Shusterman said of Kirby. “… As it has been with Kirby for a while, it’s just about finding the secondary pitch where you can get more swing and miss.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

What can help Seattle Mariners RHP Kirby reach another level

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