Seattle, WA
Seattle Mariners Pitcher George Kirby Predicted to Have All-Star Numbers in 2025
The Seattle Mariners figure to have one of the best starting pitching rotations for several years to come.
The combination of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Luis Castillo, Bryce MIller and Bryan Woo are all under team control for multiple seasons. Kirby, Gilbert and Castillo have made All-Star games and Woo and Miller just finished their second major league seasons.
Seattle is also well-positioned to have pitchers step up in case of injury or trade; Pitchers like Brandyn Garcia, Logan Evans and Emerson Hancock are now in the upper minors.
The rotation was the only one in the majors to have four pitchers start 30 or more games in 2024. It also led the league in total quality starts. Every member of the rotation finished with ERAs below 3.70.
Despite these accomplishments, popular baseball website FanGraphs has the rotation slightly regressing in 2025, per its ZiPS projections model.
The model has Gilbert putting up similar numbers in 2025 that he had in 2024. Inversely, the model has Woo and Miller taking steps back in 2025.
Seattle still projects to have the second-best rotation in the MLB behind the Philadelphia Phillies, and the best in the American League. Gilbert maintaining his status as the ace of the staff plays a part in that. But so does a predicted return to All-Star form for Kirby.
Kirby made the first All-Star game of his career in 2023. He had a 3.35 ERA with 172 strikeouts in 190.2 innings pitched across 31 starts that season.
Kirby was still a great starter in 2024, but his numbers did inflate slightly. In 2024, he had a career-high 3.53 ERA and fanned 179 hitters in 191 innings pitched and 33 starts.
George Kirby is arguable the best command pitcher of all time. Yes, I’m including Greg Maddux.
George Kirby also throws absolute flames. pic.twitter.com/3tpF2IiDo4
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 28, 2024
FanGraphs predicts Kirby’s numbers in 2025 will compare well with his statistics in 2023.
Per the model, Kirby will finish with a 3.32 ERA and 162 strikeouts in 173 innings pitched across 30 starts. The model also has him finishing with a 3.5 fWAR (FanGraphs WAR). That number is the second-highest on the staff behind Gilbert’s 4.0 fWAR.
Kirby is one of the better command-pitchers in the majors. Out of his six-pitch arsenal, the only pitches that hitters averaged better than .253 against were his sinker and knuckle curve, according to Baseball Savant. He had a 21.7% put-away rate with his fastball and a 22.6% put-away rate with his slider.
Kirby had a streak of nine consecutive quality starts from June 9-July 26, but the last two months of the year exacerbated his numbers. He had a 3.80 ERA over his last seven starts of the season and a 4.02 ERA over his last 15.
If Kirby can sustain his June/July form over the whole year, a return to the All-Star game will definitely be on the table for the former Elon College hurler.
FANGRAPHS PREDICTS DROP-OFF IN 2025 FROM YOUNG PITCHER: Former Texas A&M pitcher Bryce Miller could take a step back in 2025, per the website FanGraphs’ ZiPS Projections model. CLICK HERE
VETERAN MARINERS PITCHER INVOLVED IN INTERESTING MOCK TRADE: Luis Castillo continued to be at the forefront of mock trades, with the latest hypothetical deal taking place between the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox. CLICK HERE
RECENT MARINERS DRAFT PICK COULD DEBUT IN 2025: Former Kansas Jayhawk, and 2024 third-round draft pick Hunter Cranton could factor into the Seattle Mariners bullpen in 2025, per a recent story. CLICK HERE
Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on “X” @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady. You can subscribe to the “Refuse to Lose” podcast by clicking HERE.
We survived it last year, barely, but now we’re in for several “months of Hell” as closures of northbound I-5 across the Ship Canal Bridge return.
You deserve a pat on the back if you survived the “month of Hell” between July and August last summer.
You might need therapy to survive what’s about to happen.
Four ‘months of hell’ inbound
Four “months of Hell” will start this weekend with a full closure of northbound I-5 from downtown Seattle to University District. The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) needs the weekend to set up a work zone across the Ship Canal Bridge.
Come next Monday, the two left lanes of the northbound Ship Canal Bridge will be closed 24/7, and this is going to last for four months.
I spoke with Tom Pearce, a communications specialist for WSDOT, about the upcoming work last year.
“We will work for about four months, and then we will pause and pick everything up when the World Cup comes to town,” Pearce said. “When the World Cup ends, we will have another weekend-long closure, reset the work zone, and then we’ll start to work on the right lanes of the northbound Ship Canal Bridge.”
And that will come with a second four-month chunk of lane closures.
I’m not sure if you remember just how bad these similar closures were for that one month last summer, but it was absolutely brutal.
To help with the traffic flow, WSDOT kept the I-5 express lanes open in the northbound direction the entire time. The rationale is that it is the direction of travel of the closures.
What that created was a daily one-hour delay, or more, for southbound I-5 drivers. Tens of thousands of southbound drivers use those express lanes every morning, and with that option gone, they had to stay in the main line, creating a daily five-mile backup to the Edmonds exit down to Northgate.
“We know that it was difficult for travelers, particularly for southbound in the morning on I-5,” Pearce said. “People did well at adapting and using other transportation methods and adjusting their schedules. It went relatively well.”
WSDOT is using all the data it collected during that month of closures and is using to help with congestion this time around.
Here’s the setup going forward
Northbound I-5 will be closed through the downtown corridor all weekend. When it reopens on Monday, only the right two lanes will be open until June 5. That weekend, the entire northbound freeway will be closed to remove the work zone.
The work will take a break during the World Cup until July 10. Then, northbound I-5 will be reduced to just two left lanes until the end of the year. The end date hasn’t been released. It was originally scheduled to wrap up in November.
This is going to cause significant delays around Seattle. My best advice is to alter your schedule and get on the road at least an hour earlier than normal.
And if you think you’ll just jump on the light rail out of Lynnwood to avoid the backup, you’re going to need a plan. That parking lot is full by 7 a.m. most mornings. It will likely be filled earlier than that going forward.
Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.
Follow @https://twitter.com/newsguysully
As the holiday season ends, a new week begins, and one of the biggest events this week will be 2026’s first West Seattle Art Walk. The second Thursday is as early as it can get this month – on the 8th – so set your calendar for this Thursday as a special night to get out and enjoy the work of local artists. A preview with this quarter’s map/list and Thursday highlights should appear early in the week on the West Seattle Art Walk website. As usual, neighborhood organizations are supporting clusters of venues in Alki, Admiral, The Junction, and Morgan Junction; places with artist receptions usually start them at 5 pm. No Art of Music performances this month; that feature is on hiatus until later in the year.
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