By james art “Who is the best Seattle Mariners starting pitcher?” was a fun question asked periodically throughout the season on the pregame radio show — because the answers were almost always different and there was rarely a consensus. So when we hosted the Seattle Sports Mariners Offseason Roundtable, we took the question for a new spin.
The Seattle Sports Roundtable on the Mariners looks to ’24, ahead to the offseason
With the season completely behind us, the choice was a little easier, but there were still some hesitations here and there. And that’s a good thing.
“This is Logan Gilbert,” Mike Salk answered. “How come not?”
Bob Stelton also went that route, but part of him thought no.
“It’s Logan. But I’m telling you, when he’s healthy, it’s Brian Wu, who was special,” he said. “I was blown away by it.”
Going down this road, there was another one.
“The guy that surprised me the most honestly was Bryce Miller this year,” Salk said. “He was the guy that just developed, he just kept adding pitches all year.”
Former Mariners pitcher Charlie Furbush hit the nail on the head when he finally got a chance to pitch.
“I thought he threw like Logan,” Furbush said of Miller.
Bryce Miller’s rapid development is not normal, explains Logan Gilbert
“I mean, it’s Logan, because the first time in the All-Star Game, it’s fantastic. But I still think the biggest leap forward was Bryce Miller. The idea that he throws so aggressively, and I think that’s really the step forward, is that he’s not afraid to keep attacking. You know the third time in the lineup is great to see and that’s what hopefully takes him to the next level. I think he’s All-Star caliber next year, no question.
Something to look forward to next year, but for now, the roundtable nod wasn’t the only nod Gilbert got. On Monday, he was named along with Cleveland closer Emmanuel Klass and Detroit starter Tarik Skubal as finalists for the Players Choice Award for American League Pitcher of the Year. The winners, who are selected by player voting, will be announced Saturday on the FOX MLB pregame show before Game 2 of the World Series.
It’s great to see Gilbert get the recognition, but the discussion shouldn’t stop there, as it was too good, from start to finish. If you wanted to make a bid for opening day starter Luis Castillo as the Mariners’ best pitcher, there was a case early in the season. After a rough start to the year, he righted the ship and in his first 13 starts posted led the team in ERA (2.99), strikeouts per nine innings (9.31) and fWAR (1.4).
George Kirby, who led the team in fWAR (4.2) for the season (with Gilbert right behind him at 4.1), was perhaps the most inconsistent starter, allowing five or more runs in a team-high seven games (no other M starter there were no more than three). But in a 13-game stretch midseason, Kirby led the AL in WAR (2.9) and ERA (2.17), was second in innings pitched (78.2) and third (oops!) in walks per nine innings (1.14) with Gilbert tied for first ( 0.82 ).
The real fun began when Woo came off the injured list after missing the first month of the season. If there was any question that the fastball would hold up after being seen the year before, or if adding a pitch to help deal with lefties was a bad idea, they were stopped early. Although Woo never threw qualifying innings due to missing time to make the charts, he spent most of the season near and sometimes atop major lists when adjusted for fewer innings. From May 1 to September 5, Woo led the AL in walks per nine innings (0.82) and WHIP (0.85) and was second in ERA (2.36) and home runs to fly balls (8.3).
The eye-opener, as Salk and Furbush pointed out, was indeed Miller, who in a career-high 180 innings finished fifth in the AL in ERA (2.94), third in WHIP (0.98) and the best pitching fastball and off-speed performance values from Statcast, all percentiles ranked 97 or higher. Perhaps most impressively, Miller posted a 1.75 ERA from July 10 through the end of the season and allowed just two total runs in his final four-game stretch against St. Louis, Texas, New York (Ala.) and Houston.
Miller and Wu both had impressive second-year showings, but seemed to finish the season in different spots, with Wu still having to show he can stay healthy and sustain an inning throughout the season.
Dreyer: The gloves are off for the Mariners’ Bryan Woo
Woo struggled in two of the bigger games of the year, giving up seven runs in 4.2 innings to the Yankees on Sept. 17, then four runs in six innings on Sept. 22 to the Rangers. But in both ends of those games, he pitched a perfect seventh-inning offering on Sept. 11 against San Diego and finished 2024 with five scoreless innings in a 2-0 win over Oakland on Sept. 27, allowing just three hits and one walk. while recording a season-best eight strikeouts.
Wu is still very young in his pitching career, having converted late in college and thrown minimal innings in the minor leagues, and as Stelton pointed out, there is some intrigue in what his ceiling ends up being.
Part of the fun of throwing out the question “Who is the best Mariners pitcher?” all season long was the consternation it could cause with panels that wanted qualifiers. Right now? Regarding things? Who would I want in a must play? Choose your adventure.
At the start of the year, of course, why not name the veteran who had done it before in Castillo. For the record, in a very informal poll of a handful of players and coaches, the best answers on the floor have almost always been W’s fastball and Gilbert’s splitter. In general? The Players Choice nod would mean hitters don’t want to factor in Gilbert, who is known for being as hard to catch as he is to hit with the ridiculous array of pitches he can throw in any count and the ability to hits all four corners. Add a top extension and if it’s on, good luck.
In terms of who you’d want in a must-win game, Gilbert, Kirby and Castillo were the names that came up the most on the pregame show. The organization clearly wanted Gilbert in that spot as they juggled the rotation in the second half to get him into the final game if necessary or Game 1 of the postseason. Interestingly, it was Miller who came out the biggest in September.
The issue sparked heated debates throughout the year. On several occasions, Rick Riess tried to answer the question by saying that whoever was on the mound that day was the best starting pitcher. There were times when he wouldn’t be wrong.
Seattle Mariners offseason
• Lefko: Mariners’ snub reveals what’s wrong with Gold Glove process
• What the Mariners can learn from teams that have made the ALCS, NLCS
• Two Mariners are named finalists for the AL Gold Glove Award
• The Mariners’ top prospect is off to a fiery start in the Arizona Fall League
• Dreyer: Important dates for the Seattle Mariners offseason