Seattle Mariners Starting Pitcher Logan Gilbert Discusses Team's Playoff Potential
There were very few, if any, pitching staffs in baseball last season better than the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners starting rotation, which boasts three All-Stars, led the league in quality starts, innings pitched and was the only one that had four pitchers start 30 or more games.
Seattle was one game out of the playoffs for the second year in a row despite the elite starting rotation. It was the 22nd time in 23 years the Mariners missed the postseason and the fourth consecutive season where the team's playoff fate came down to the final week of play.
There was a question last year about how far Seattle could go in the playoffs due to the elite level of the rotation. And that question is something that the ace of the staff has also pondered.
Gilbert spoke during a news conference posted to the Mariners YouTube channel on Feb. 17. In the conference, discussed the danger the group could pose to the rest of the field in the playoffs.
"I think that's always the idea, and what we have in the back of our head," Gilbert said. "I mean, you look at the Royals — had a really good starting staff last year. And then made a little bit of a run there, got in, beat the Orioles. I think we can go toe-to-toe with anybody on the mound, and as a team. But it's just — especially in the playoff format now, if you get in with the expanded playoffs and going three-game series or whatever it is, then five-game, then seven-game — I think we have better pitchers than most teams. And I think we have a deeper rotation, too. And bullpen. So if you make it in, I really think we're one of the teams that people don't really want to face in the playoffs."
Gilbert made the first All-Star game of his career in 2024 and had his first 200-200 season (200 strikeouts, 200 innings pitched). He finished with a 3.23 ERA and struck out 220 batters in 208.2 innings pitched in a team-high 33 starts.
Logan Gilbert's Splitters are unfair. pic.twitter.com/N7jDc7DImm
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 19, 2024
Gilbert finished sixth in American League Cy Young voting. And there's a reason to believe 2025 could be just as good, or better, for Gilbert and the rest of the staff.
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