Servais explains Mariners’ rotation strategy for Astros series

Back in mid-June, the Seattle Mariners pushed back their rotation by a day to line up their top three starting pitchers for a pivotal series against the Texas Rangers.

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The strategy worked to perfection. Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert completely shut down the Rangers’ dangerous lineup, allowing just two earned runs in 20 innings to key a significant three-game sweep.

With the division rival Houston Astros coming to town for another massive three-game series this weekend, there was some thought the Mariners could align their rotation in a similar way – especially given the flexibility they have coming out of the four-day All-Star break.

However, the M’s will go a slightly different route. Seattle will start Castillo on Friday and Kirby on Saturday, but the club will go with Bryan Woo instead of Gilbert for Sunday’s series finale.

Mariners manager Scott Servais explained the decision during his pregame media availability Friday afternoon.

“There were a couple of different things to look at,” Servais said. “Is this the biggest series of the year? No. We’ll see (the Astros) again, and there are other things that are gonna go on here over the last two-plus months of the season.”

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Servais first pointed to the Mariners wanting to keep Woo in a rhythm. The 24-year-old right-hander has been highly effective when healthy this season, posting a 2.45 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 44 innings. However, he’s already been on the injured list twice, including a recent 17-day IL stint with a hamstring strain.

Woo returned from the IL to start last Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels. He allowed a season-high four runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings.

“You want to keep guys in some rhythm,” Servais said. “I think putting Bryan Woo in this series is something we talk a lot about. We want to get him pitching again and didn’t want to have the layoff be too long.”

Servais also mentioned Gilbert’s workload. The 27-year-old right-hander, who recently earned his first All-Star Game selection, has thrown an MLB-high 132 1/3 innings this season. That puts him on pace for nearly 220 innings. In his previous three MLB seasons, his career high was 190 2/3 innings in 2023.

Gilbert has been the best pitcher in Seattle’s elite rotation this year, posting a 2.79 ERA and an MLB-best 0.87 WHIP with 124 strikeouts and 25 walks. He has been especially dominant lately, tossing seven-plus scoreless innings in three of his past six starts.

Gilbert’s last start came on Sunday, when he threw seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball against the Angels in the Mariners’ final game before the All-Star break. Because he pitched Sunday, Gilbert didn’t appear in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. By not pitching this series or in the Midsummer Classic, he will have an extended break before making his first start of the season’s unofficial second half.

“Logan has carried as many innings as anybody,” Servais said. “He’s been awesome, but he’s gonna have to play a ton and impact what we’re doing here. So again, we lined up the way we did. All these guys are gonna pitch a lot. They’re all gonna pitch in big games.”

The Mariners (52-46) currently hold a one-game lead over the Astros (50-46) atop the American League West. This is the third of four series between the division rivals this year. Their final series will be Sept. 23-25 in Houston during the last week of the regular season.

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