This past weekend, Seattle Mariners' ace George Kirby spun a gem against the Arizona Diamondbacks, registering 12 strikeouts in a dominant performance that Seattle ended up winning.
Kirby flashed 97-98 MPH stuff and showed an elite breaking ball, alongside his impeccable command.
His outing caused Rob Friedman AKA @PitchingNinja to call him the greatest control pitcher of all-time, including Greg Maddux.
Turns out that Friedman was right, as Kirby has the lowest B/9 ratio of any qualified pitcher to debut in the Live Ball Era (since 1920).
Per @MLBNetwork:
Lowest BB/9 (among starting pitchers to debut in the Live Ball Era (since 1920):
1) George Kirby, 1.15
2) Bob Tewksbury, 1.45
3) Kevin Slowey, 1.51
4) Josh Towers, 1.51
5) Red Lucas, 1.61
6) Brad Rake, 1.63
The 26-year-old New York native made his Major League debut in 2022 and earned an All-Star nod in 2023. He's thrown 353 career innings in the big leagues and has 343 strikeouts vs. just 45 walks. This season, he's walked four batters in 32.1 innings.
What makes Kirby so impressive is that he isn't doing this with a junk-filled arsenal. Typically, we associate command pitchers with low velocity and power pitchers with wildness, but Kirby has both velocity and control.
He walked only 19 batters in 190.2 innings in 2023.
With Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller, Emerson Hancock and Bryan Woo, the Mariners just may have the best rotation in all of baseball.
At 16-13, they lead the American League West heading into play on Tuesday.
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