Seattle Mariners' George Kirby Takes First Positive Step in Injury Recovery
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby won't be ready for the start of the season, but he did take a positive step on Friday.
According to Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports 710, Kirby played catch with an M's trainer. He's been shut down since March 7 with right shoulder inflammation.
Kirby just played catch with a trainer for a few minutes.
— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) March 21, 2025
While playing catch with a trainer may not seen like a big step, this is significant considering Kirby had yet to throw since being shut down. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times said he threw from 60 feet and will throw again on Saturday.
George Kirby had 20 throws from 60 feet. He will bump up to 75 feet tomorrow. The Mariners have it mapped out with some days off from throwing scheduled. He said the biologics shot in the shoulder definitely helped the process.
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) March 21, 2025
The Mariners will be utilizing Emerson Hancock in Kirby's place, and he's slated to start the fifth game of the season, which will be March 31 against the Detroit Tigers. Kirby has said he hopes to only miss a few starts in April.
An All-Star in 2023, Kirby is 35-26 lifetime with a 3.43 ERA. He went 14-11 a season ago, but features some of the best stuff in baseball. With an upper-90s fastball, a splitter, and a slider, Kirby also has the best control of any starter in the sport.
He's a former first-round pick (2019) of the Mariners out of Elon.
The Mariners are coming off a season in which they finished 85-77 and missed the playoffs by one game. However, under new manager Dan Wilson there is some more optimism heading into 2025.
In addition to having Wilson for a full year at the helm, the Mariners also went out and added infielder Donovan Solano this offseason. They also re-signed infielder Jorge Polanco to a one-year deal, and he will play third base.
The M's will open the season on Thursday, March 27 with a four-game series against the Athletics at T-Mobile Park. We know that Logan Gilbert will pitch Game 1, with Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo to follow.
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