Logan Gilbert gives up four runs in loss to Rays

Gilbert retired 22 of 23 batters, and Cole Wilcox was a perfect 5-for-5 after coming on in an 11-0 game. Gilbert, originally due to piggyback with Emerson Hancock today, seemed pleased to have the start entirely to himself. His velocity was again up; he’s come in at 96.8, 97.1 and 97.0 mph with his fastball in his last three starts after averaging 95.5 mph in his first 15 outings. He got 18 whiffs today, including 12 with the fastball, and he allowed just three hard-hit balls. The win makes him 7-5 with a 3.19 ERA. He’s fourth in the majors with a 0.95 WHIP and tied for 12th with 114 strikeouts. He’ll get the Rays in his final start before the break.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Mariners are abandoning their ill-fated piggyback experiment with Gilbert making his usual start before Emerson Hancock takes the ball against Toronto on Sunday. It doesn’t sound like the organization has any plans to continue the unorthodox arrangement beyond the All-Star break, especially with the trade deadline looming and top prospects like Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan looking like they could pitch in the majors down the home stretch. Hopefully this is the last time fantasy managers need to incorporate the phrase piggyback into our vocabulary.

It sounds like the Mariners will continue with this odd piggybacking arrangement through the All-Star break to keep all six of their starters happy. That means George Kirby will start on Sunday with Bryan Woo set to take the ball for Tuesday’s series opener against the Marlins in Miami.

Gilbert gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out seven. He fell to 6-5 with the loss. Gilbert was victimized by the Guardians in a three-run third inning. The 29-year-old right-hander allowed a base hit to four of the first five hitters in the inning. Cleveland would tack on another run in the fifth inning against Gilbert and that was enough to give the Guardians the win. His ERA is 3.42. Gilbert is lined up to face the Blue Jays at home next weekend.

We need to come up with a better term than piggybacking. Seriously. Gilbert takes the ball for a traditional start with Hancock doing the same for Sunday’s series finale. The decision pushes George Kirby back to Monday’s opener against the Angels. The whole Mariners rotation situation is challenging to understand and remains a massive headache for fantasy managers. There have to be some changes coming from a personnel standpoint after next month’s All-Star break because this seems too chaotic to work as a strategic approach for an extended period.

Gilbert has been outstanding as of late, while Hancock has scuffled over his past two outings. The Mariners will be rotating hurlers in their piggyback situation rather than going to a six-man rotation for the foreseeable future, and it’s less than ideal from a fantasy perspective.

Gilbert posted 18 whiffs on the day, which was more than any other starting pitcher on Sunday. He struck out eight and walked two while throwing 70 percent of his pitches for strikes. He had good command of everything but the slider today, and the slider was still able to post a solid 13 percent swinging strike rate. The curve and splitter missed plenty of bats in limited usage, and his four-seam fastball was up over one mph, averaging 96.8 mph. He’ll look to keep it going against the Guardians next week.

Gilbert surrendered a run on two hits in the first inning. He then settled in nicely, dominating over six more shutout frames while collecting a season-high ten strikeouts on an impressive 19 whiffs. The 29-year-old right-hander will take a 3.43 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and a 92/20 K/BB ratio across 86 2/3 innings into a start against the Red Sox in Seattle on Sunday.

There’s a lot to unpack here. According to Mariners general manager Justin Hollander, it was a unanimous decision by all six starters — Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Emerson Hancock, Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo — to move to a schedule where each pitcher will rotate through and have piggyback days. Ironically, the arrangement will begin with Castillo piggybacking out of the bullpen with Miller during Friday’s series opener against the Red Sox. The decision will have a significant fantasy impact simply by reducing the overall volume for each starter over the next few weeks. The unorthodox arrangement feels like a temporary stopgap solution until the arrival of top prospects Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan later this summer ultimately forces Seattle to move on from at least one of their veteran arms.

It wasn’t enough to get Gilbert a win, so he remains 4-4 with a 3.62 ERA, even though the Mariners prevailed in one of his starts for the eighth time this year. Gilbert will face the Orioles again next week, but this time, it will be home in Seattle, improving his chances of recoding a victory.