Watch: How Logan Gilbert started chasing velocity

Logan Gilbert knew he had more in the tank.

The Seattle Mariners right-hander started chasing velocity on his fastball earlier this season, and it’s paid off in recent weeks with a noticeable jump in velo over his final starts of the first half.

Through his first six starts of the season, Gilbert averaged 95.5 mph on his fastball. Over his past four starts, he’s sat around 96.7-97.1 mph.

“Logan has been very interested in just finding small things to lead to velocity jumps,” director of pitching strategy Trent Blank said. “So like, what’s the 1% things we can do? So we made slight adjustments to his plyo work, to his workload in bullpens, to how he manages stuff in between innings. And I think that’s what we’re seeing is just those small things adding up, and we’re seeing the floor come up and we’ve seen some peak velos that he gets really excited about.”

“Anytime a player makes a half mile per hour jump, it’s meaningful,” Blank added. “But for a guy to make a mile per hour jump, you don’t see guys in the league do that.”

During a recent video interview with Seattle Sports, Gilbert detailed why he felt there was another level to reach with his velocity, the work he’s put in with the coaching staff and how it impacts the rest of his arsenal. For all the details on Gilbert’s push for more juice on the fastball, watch the video at the top of this post.

Seattle Mariners news and more

• 2 Takes: What are the Mariners missing most right now?
• What college coach saw from Mariners’ 1st-round pick Ace Reese
• How Mariners’ top pitching prospects fared in All-Star Futures Game

Related

Mariners’ Lazaro Montes blasts 1st HR in MLB debutWatch Mariners’ Lazaro Montes learn of promotion to MLBMariners Lineup: Lazaro Montes ‘ready to go’ in MLB debutMLB’s Los Angeles Angels to be sold to Rams owner Stan KroenkeThe Mariners have not bounced back from 6 big injuriesMariners sign veteran LHP, add Lazaro Montes for September call-ups