On Thursday, the Seattle Mariners blanked the Minnesota Twins, 5-0, to head to the weekend on a high note.
Right-hander George Kirby was masterful in leading his team to the victory.
He tossed seven scoreless innings in which he allowed just four hits and no walks while striking out 10 batters.
Apart from a July 15 start against the Detroit Tigers in which he allowed six runs in five innings, he has been amazing as of late.
Thursday’s effort against the Twins might have been the best start of the season for him, though, and that’s saying a lot.
Kirby has become the king of the quality start.
“@gkirb98 registers his 15th quality start of the season, tied for most in MLB with Marcus Stroman-CHC and Logan Webb-SF,” the Mariners tweeted.
.@gkirb98 registers his 15th quality start of the season, tied for most in MLB with Marcus Stroman-CHC and Logan Webb-SF.
— Mariners PR (@MarinersPR) July 20, 2023
A pitcher will log a quality start when he completes six frames or more and allows three earned runs or fewer.
The concept has been useful in recent years because it denotes a hurler’s ability to keep his team in the game.
Three runs or fewer and six or more innings is usually enough to “give the offense a shot” at winning the game.
That’s the theory, of course, because sometimes it’s not enough even in practice.
Well, Kirby has an incredible ability to cover innings (he has 119.2 over the course of the season and is projecting close to 200) and is good enough to keep his team in the game in the vast majority of his outings.
He is one of the best and most consistent young pitchers in the game at the moment.
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