Seattle Mariners starter Logan Gilbert established himself as pitcher capable of going deeper into games than most during his stellar 2024 campaign.
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Gilbert led the majors with 208 2/3 innings pitched last season while posting a stellar 3.23 ERA and finishing sixth place in American League Cy Young voting.
The right-hander has continued to provide valuable innings for the Mariners this season, just in a much smaller quantity.
Gilbert, who missed nearly two months earlier this year with a flexor strain in his right elbow, is averaging just over five innings per outing with 83 1/3 innings pitched in 16 starts this year. He has reached six innings just three times and seven innings only once. For comparison, Gilbert pitched at least six innings 26 times and seven innings 10 times last season.
What is causing Gilbert to not go as deep into games as he has in the past? Former Mariners pitcher Charlie Furbush shared his analysis of the situation with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob during a conversation Friday.
One pitch stands out
An important distinction to make about how deep Gilbert is going into games is that he’s throwing about as many pitches per start as he did a season ago. Excluding the start he left early with flexor injury in April, the former first-round pick is averaging 90.7 pitches per outing, down just a bit from 92.2 last year.
Furbush said he has pinpointed Gilbert’s splitter as the biggest factor.
“His splitter is so good, but it can be a little inconsistent at times because it’s not the easiest pitch to control,” Furbush said. “… You’ve kind of heard him talk about it. If he tries to kind of aim it and place it, that’s when it doesn’t really work that well. And even when you’re throwing it, it’s not a pitch that you have the best grip on. But if you can find the release point, it allows you to throw it consistently.
“But what I’m seeing is just a little inconsistency on these 1-1, 2-1, 1-2 counts with splitters.”
While the splitter has stood out to Furbush as a pitch that Gilbert has had inconsistencies with, he has been rather impressed by the way the slider has looked.
“His slider continues to really impress me in terms of how he’s able to navigate at-bats and ultimately get guys out with it,” Furbush said. “I actually see it as more of an out-pitch or a strikeout pitch than the splitter in a lot of ways, because I find that he’s being able to throw it and locate it in better spots throughout the zone more consistently than the splitter.”
Is ditching the splitter and becoming even more slider-heavy the answer for Gilbert? Furbush doesn’t believe so.
“The splitter is arguably one of the nastiest pitches in his repertoire, so you got to continue to throw it,” Furbush said. “It’s like Steph Curry. You think he’s going to stop going shooting 3s? … You’re going to keep throwing splitters, you’re going to find it, you’re going to land it. I think that’s what we’re hoping to see out of Logan here soon enough.”
Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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