George

Kirby

Kirby had faced the minimum through three innings, then gave up two runs on three hits in the fourth. He settled in for three more scoreless frames before his day was done after seven. He scattered five hits and one walk while striking out five batters. The 28-year-old right-hander will take a 2.94 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and a 39/12 K/BB ratio across 52 innings into a start against the Astros in Houston on Monday.

Kirby struck out eight and walked two while throwing 65 percent of his pitches for strikes and posting an 11 percent swinging strike rate. Kirby leaned heavily on his sinker against righties, throwing just three four-seamers all game, and was able to miss bats with his sweeper and changeup consistently. He did struggle to put hitters away in two-strike counts with a 14 percent PutAway Rate on the day, which is well below his 19 percent career mark. The right-hander will look to be more consistent next time out, next week against the Braves.

Kirby struck out two batters on the night while issuing one free pass. All of the damage done against him came on a two-out, two-run single off the bat of Masyn Winn in the fourth inning. The 28-year-old hurler got 11 whiffs on 81 pitches on the night — six of them on his slider — while posting a CSW of 28 percent. He now sports a terrific 2.97 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 29/9 K/BB ratio over 39 1/3 innings through his first 39 1/3 innings. He’ll look to keep the good times rolling when he takes on the Twins in Minnesota on Wednesday.

It’s the first win for Seattle over Texas in their five games, and the third win of the season for Kirby. He did allow 10 balls in play that registered as hard hits, but he was able to strike out five while generating a strong 14 swings and misses before exiting in the sixth. Kirby’s command still isn’t at the level we’ve grown accustomed to seeing, but it’s nice to see some whiffs. He’ll gets the Cardinals in St. Louis on Friday.

Kirby struck out six. His one walk was issued to the last batter he faced in the eighth, Yordan Alvarez. Kirby has averaged 97 mph with his fastballs and sinkers in back-to-back starts. He did that a total of once last year, on Aug. 17 against the Mets. He’s still not missing as many bats as usual, but his groundball rate is way up, which should help with his ERA. He’s 2-2 with a 3.25 ERA right now, and he’s due to face the Rangers next.

Kirby worked four scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Two hits brought a run in and left a runner on for Kyle Higashioka, who took Kirby deep for a two-run blast to give the Rangers the lead. Kirby would complete three more scoreless frames, completing eight innings before the Rangers closed the door on Seattle in the top of the ninth. Kirby threw 68 of 90 pitches for strikes, walking no batters, and generated a ton of contact with 12 groundouts. He struck out four. Overall, it was a nice bounce-back for the 28-year-old right-hander. Kirby lines up for a start against the Astros in Seattle next Monday.

Kirby was not his sharpest here, but still practically got through a quality start with just one run on his ledger. That is, until he served up a belt-high fastball to Paul Goldschmidt that he parked in the seats. He probably deserved that though because he struggled with his command all afternoon. With that, he only forced six swings-and-misses while the Yankee bats were all over him with nine hard-hit balls among the 15 they put in play. He’ll have a chance to get back on track next time out against the Rangers.

Kirby scattered just two hits on the evening while issuing a pair of free passes. The only blemish on his night came on a solo home run to Chase DeLauter in the opening inning, after that he was brilliant. Kirby got eight whiffs on 90 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll look to extend his winning streak to two when he takes on the Yankees at home on Wednesday.

Kirby put together a phenomenal spring, flashing an uptick in velocity, and will get the ball after Logan Gilbert takes his turn on Opening Day at T-Mobile Park. He’ll be followed by Bryan Woo and Emerson Hancock over the weekend before Luis Castillo makes his season debut against the Yankees on Monday.

Kirby was feeling it in the Arizona heat tonight, touching 99.7 mph and averaging 97.4 mph with his fastball. His spring average coming into this one was 96.3 mph, which was essentially a match for his mark of 96.2 mph last year. Kirby doesn’t necessarily need the extra velocity to be an excellent fantasy starter, but it sure wouldn’t hurt. Kirby is lined up to be slotted in between Logan Gilbert and Bryan Woo in the rotation and to make his season debut Friday against the Guardians.