George Kirby K’s his way into the All-Star game as injury replacement
By Charles Hamaker
San Francisco, CA – His first ever All-Star selection likely didn’t come in the way that George Kirby envisioned it, but nonetheless, the Mariners 25-year-old pitcher is headed to his first Midsummer classic. Named as an injury-replacement player for Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan, Kirby will join teammates Luis Castillo and Julio Rodriguez to represent the Pacific Northwest when the All-Star game comes to their home stadium of T-Mobile Park. Since being called up to take Matt Brash’s spot in the Mariners rotation early last season, Kirby has smashed through any expectations and looks more and more like a top end starter every time he hits the mound.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby in his final Spring Training outing of 2023 (Northwest green jersey) and during his ALDS Game three (white jersey) start (Photos by Liv Lyons)
The right decision
Considering the season that Kirby has had to this point and how he’s improved in just about every start, it makes total sense that he earns this All-Star selection and arguably should’ve been Seattle’s pick in the first place. Given how he’s deployed his six-pitch arsenal, given the Mariners the best chance to win ballgames that he’s started, and shown a competitive fire that rivals almost anybody in baseball. The leading pitcher on his team in WAR, tops in walk percentile, and in some outings carrying the team so much but got little to no run support. Those outings against the Guardians and Phillies early in the year, and the Yankees were all incredible outings that displayed the value that he brings to Seattle and this pitching staff. Given Luis Castillo’s spot struggles this season, the case could be made that Kirby has put together the better all-around body of work, but regardless, the Elon University alum earns the nod.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby so far this year (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
First of many
Given the sort of success that Kirby has had already and the growth displayed by the hard throwing righty just two seasons (not even two, fully, yet), this will likely just be the first of many different accomplishments and awards that he stacks up over the course of his career. Having never truly spent time with the Tacoma Rainiers in AAA ball, seeing Kirby come up to the Majors and really find his stride and run with it was very impressive last season. While the team did work in breaks for him over the course of the year, as his workload was never like this before in the minors, Kirby took on big responsibility for Seattle and showed great promise throughout the regular season. After throwing an inning of relief against the Blue Jays to close out the Wild Card series and having an incredible performance against the Astros in ALDS game three, the future couldn’t have been brighter.
This year, Kirby has looked like the Mariners best pitcher. While Luis Castillo had the hot start to begin the year, Kirby currently sits at third in WAR for the Seattle (.5 ahead of Castillo), has recorded the most wins on the season so far (7), as he keeps the walks down and the homers against to a minimum. He’s still got room to improve, which is incredible to think about, and damn near craves the big moments. There have been several instances over the current season where Kirby has shown the intensity to want to stay longer for outings and gotten angry at himself for even one-run against. Getting consistent, sustained improvement from George Kirby is a scary thing for the rest of baseball.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby during the 2023 season, so far (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)
When will he pitch?
Unlike Castillo who was voted in by players, managers, and coaches, Kirby comes in as an injury replacement player and I doubt that he gets the ball before Castillo does. Because of that and since Kirby isn’t as well known around the league as Castillo is, it’s essentially a toss-up for wherever he may pitch. In a fun situation, Kirby and Castillo could throw back-to-back innings for the American League in a Mariners one-two punch, similar to how their pitching staff has shaped up to be over the course of this season so far. So, I can’t give you the best idea of when we’ll see George take the mound in his home ballpark for the All-Star game, but it’s great to know that he will be doing so after it seemed uncertain prior to becoming an injury-replacement player.