The good signs Hyphen saw from Kirby’s last start

Injuries have kept the Seattle Mariners’ starting rotation from reaching the levels it did last season, but the club saw its greatest strength come to life during its recent three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Seattle Mariners Draft Profile: Funky Florida State lefty Jamie Arnold

The Mariners held the Pirates scoreless in all three games, marking the first time in franchise history the M’s have recorded a shutout in every game of a three-game set. The starters were a major part of that while tossing 19 1/3 of the 27 scoreless innings.

The performance of the rotation stood out to Mariners color analyst and former MLB pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith, especially that of right-hander George Kirby. Rowland-Smith told Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Monday that Kirby’s 6 1/3 shutout innings with nine strikeouts during Sunday’s win was the best the right-hander has looked all year.

What stood out from Kirby’s start

Wyman and Bob co-host Bob Stelton was a bit surprised to hear Rowland-Smith call Kirby’s outing against the Pirates his best of the season. The right-hander was also brilliant against the Los Angeles Angels on June 8 when he struck out a career-high 14 batters while surrendering just two runs on two hits over seven innings.

A key difference that Rowland-Smith saw between those two starts was that the Pirates’ lineup featured three left-handed batters towards the top of the lineup. Kirby entered his start against Pittsburgh allowing a .309/.356/.543 slash line and six of the seven home runs he had allowed on the season against lefties. Pirates left-handers went o for 9 with five strikeouts against Kirby on Sunday.

Rowland-Smith also pointed to Kirby’s splitter usage. He threw it eight times against the Pirates, per Baseball Savant. Kirby had thrown only one splitter over his previous three starts.

“That’s the best George has looked all year, period,” Rowland-Smith said. “… The way he went about it on the inside half of the plate against lefties, and how he finally got that splitter in a couple big counts.”

Kirby started this year on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. He lasted more than five innings only once in his first six starts back but has gone six more in his past three while allowing a total of just two runs, 10 hits and one walk.

“You go back a couple starts ago, he was very hittable and he was very manageable when you got traffic,” Rowland-Smith said. “… I just thought he looked so good, man. It’s just such a good sign to have him doing what he did in that Game 3 (against Pittsburgh).”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

Seattle Mariners coverage

• Salk: Dreaming big on three Seattle Mariners trade targets
• Drayer: Seattle Mariners’ pitching steps toward regaining dominance
• The Seattle Mariners apparently came close to trading King Félix – twice
• Watch: An 8-year-old Cal Raleigh predicts Home Run Derby championship
• ‘New school’ stats made Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez a throwback All-Star pick

Related

Kade Anderson on debut: ‘I had my D+ stuff’Amsinger: Why the Mariners will win the AL West titleWyman’s takeaways from Seahawks’ 2nd preseason gameBob Stelton reacts to Mariners’ Kade Anderson callupWyman’s takeaways from Seahawks’ preseason openerMorosi on Mariners’ Colt Emerson: ‘The book is not closed’