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Seattle Mariners' George Kirby Goes Viral For Throwing Insane Knuckleball in Season Finale vs. Texas Rangers

Originally posted on FanNation Fastball | By Brady Farkas | Last updated 10/1/23

The Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon 1-0.

The win means the Mariners end their season at 88-74. It's the second time in the last three years that the Mariners will miss the playoffs by 2.0 games or fewer, this time missing it by 1.0 game.

Though the M's aren't going to the playoffs, they did have a little fun in the regular season finale, with starting pitcher George Kirby going viral on the internet for throwing a nasty knuckleball - his first knuckleball of the season.

It caught the attention of the @PitchingNinja on social media:

George Kirby, Disgusting 73mph Knuckleball.

That movement.

Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times had more information on the pitch, which made Corey Seager look silly at the plate.

For those that didn’t notice, George Kirby threw a first-pitch knuckleball to Corey Seager for a swing and miss. Statcast had it as a splitter, but Kirby has been threatening to throw his knuckleball once in a game.

Kirby wrapped up his season at 13-10 on the season. An All-Star this year, he also registered a 3.35 ERA. In addition to his stats, his durability was incredibly impressive for Seattle. He threw 190.2 innings and made 31 starts, something that was necessary given that the M's lost both Robbie Ray and Marco Gonzales to injury this season.

At the age of 25, he's one of the best young starters in all of baseball. He'll pair with Luis Castillo and Logan Gilbert to make one of the top rotations in baseball again next season.

This article first appeared on FanNation Fastball and was syndicated with permission.

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