Seattle Mariners Ace Nearing Impressive Single-Season Milestone
SEATTLE — There hasn't been a whole lot that's gone right for the Seattle Mariners this season.
Pick your poison when it comes to the Mariners this season: moving on from a nine-year manager, the offense's near-historically bad year, the several blown saves by the bullpen, the injuries, etc.
But one of the few things that has been consistently excellent for Seattle has been the elite starting pitching rotation. And the Mariners' 2024 All-Star Logan Gilbert has been at the forefront of it.
Gilbert has been the pinnacle of consistency for Seattle this season to the point where he's been a dark-horse candidate for the American League Cy Young award at varying points in the year.
And that consistency could end up in Gilbert accomplishing an impressive single-season milestone.
The Stetson College product will get the start for the Mariners' series finale against the New York Yankees at 1:10 p.m. PT on Thursday. Gilbert will begin the game with 198 strikeouts in 191.2 innings pitched on the season.
Logan Gilbert, 98mph Paint. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/D7WBVaAosW
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 15, 2024
Gilbert will need two more strikeouts and pitch 8.1 more innings to join the 200/200 club.
Barring a near-perfect outing, Gilbert likely won't hit 200 innings on Thursday. But he'll have one more start in the season against the Houston Astros to accomplish that. And he will likely reach 200 'Ks' against the Yankees.
"Another big opportunity for him today," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said in a pregame interview Thursday. "I think when you look at what he's been able to accomplish this year, the leadership he brings to the pitching staff, the work ethic he brings to his game, especially in between starts — and all these guys do. But I think Logan has really figured out a good routine. He continues to get better, he continues to find ways in order to get better. And he gets to it. And coming up (on) 200 innings that's a big deal in this game. A lot of success. That means you're getting deep into games — you're doing good things on the mound. It's been a very good year for Logan."
Gilbert is entering his start on Thursday with a 3.24 ERA in 30 starts to go with his 198 strikeouts. He also leads the league in WHIP (0.89) — 0.05 points lower than Detroit Tigers hurler Tarik Skubal, who's second in the league in that category.
Gilbert has become the ace of the Mariners pitching staff and he'll have a chance to prove it against arguably the best lineup in baseball against New York on Thursday.
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