Logan Gilbert’s incredible play at the plate in yesterday’s Mariners win wasn’t just a clutch moment in the game; it also underscored a fun little storyline this season, where Gilbert has gone from the worst Mariners pitcher at controlling the running game to the…[checks notes, checks them again]…best? That’s right, after being one of the worst Mariners pitchers by Statcast’s Net Bases Prevented (which sums how many bases a pitcher prevents runners from advancing with outs created on the basepaths),
this year Gilbert is the best of the starting staff.
It’s understandable if you would have guessed Gilbert to be the worst, not the best – he and Bryce Miller (who was the worst starter last year at controlling the running game) have not only the slowest pitching pace on the team, but in the big leagues in general. Gilbert’s pitch tempo of 18.6 seconds ranks in the bottom 6% of MLB, as does Miller’s, and pitchers who are slower to the plate tend to leave themselves more susceptible to the running game. But Gilbert has made a concerted effort to improve in that area, and it’s paying dividends, even as he himself admits he’ll never be master of the pickoff.
The starter who is actually the worst at controlling the running game might surprise you, though – or maybe not, if you’ve been watching the 2026 Seattle Mariners closely. George Kirby’s -5 Net Bases Prevented ranks not only worst on the staff, but bottom 5% in MLB.
Despite being one of the quicker Mariners starters to the plate, Kirby has historically been one of the worst on staff at controlling the running game. This wasn’t an issue for the 2023-24 iterations of Kirby, who steadfastly refused to issue free passes, or even 2025 Kirby, who walked more hitters but also posted a career-high strikeout percentage of 26% after coming back from an early-season shoulder injury. But the 2026 version of George Kirby is striking out the lowest percentage of hitters in his career, under 20%, while also walking the same number of hitters as his 2025 self – still well below MLB average, but not the utterly miserly raters of his 2023-4 selves. That’s led to an increase of bodies on the basepaths, and when runners reach base, they take advantage.
In Kirby’s last start against the A’s, with the A’s ahead 2-0, Zack Gelof led off the fourth inning with a single. Kirby was able to retire Lawrence Butler on a flyout, but during Butler’s at-bat, Gelof stole second, which set up a two-out RBI for the A’s when Max Muncy singled, costing the Mariners a run. The A’s were able to get another run in that inning thanks to a passed ball on catcher Cal Raleigh, and all of a sudden the A’s had doubled up their lead, putting the Mariners in a hole they wouldn’t be able to overcome.
For a team that’s scuffled to find offense, gifting opposing teams runs on preventable things like walks and stolen bases has been deleterious, to say the least. (The Mets’ double stealagainst Kirby in a 7-1 loss on June 3 felt like a particularly brutal humiliation ritual and, looking back, felt like one of the signs this team wasn’t headed to the post-season.) But the final score doesn’t always reflect how pivotal some of these steals can be. Looking at the Padres’ decisive 8-3 win over the Mariners back on May 17th, it’s hard to remember that was a close game up until a nightmarish sixth inning. But in the fifth inning, the Padres were able to double up their lead essentially for free when Xander Bogaerts led off with a walk, then swiped second and third consecutively and scored on a Ty France single.
As the broadcast team points out here, part of what makes Kirby so susceptible to the stolen base, despite his quicker pitch tempo, is his large leg kick. Because of his delivery, there’s probably a ceiling to how well Kirby will be able to control the running game, which is hopefully offset by his pace to the plate and ability to limit free passes – both of which are controllables that Kirby could do a better job of controlling. One other aspect that Kirby could control, though, is his mentality on the mound.
Kirby has spoken extensively this year about working on the mental side of his game to be more comfortable with contact and let go of outcomes once runners reach base. In the past, says Kirby, he’s lost focus being frustrated about executing a pitch and yet allowing a hit on what he considers a well-executed pitch. This year, he’s been working on redirecting his focus instead to the hitter in the box and continuing to execute and hopefully cap the damage at the plate.
“That’s a big thing for me,” Kirby said back in April after a particularly good start against the Astros. “Once that guy gets on base, you can’t do anything about it anymore. You just have to lock in a go back to thinking about the competition between you and the hitter. They got on, doesn’t matter, just go attack the next guy. I think that really helps flush all the negative energy after a couple hits.”
It’s a delicate balance – keeping the focus on the at-bat but not forgetting about the runner entirely. But it’s not entirely correct that a pitcher can’t do anything about a hitter who reached base, because they can matter. For the famously-intense “Furious George”, managing the mental side of the game has always been one of his challenges. But it’s a balance he’s going to have to navigate, because giving up free runs is something to really be furious about.
