Mariners Ace Pitcher Talks About Development of His New Weapon
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Seattle Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert may not have pitched in the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday, but his selection in the event was certainly something to hang his hat on.
The Mariners' fourth-year pitcher leads the league in quality starts with 16 and has a 2.79 ERA with 124 strikeouts.
Gilbert also became the fifth-fastest player in team history to reach 600 career strikeouts before the All-Star break.
A lot of that has to do with the arsenal of pitches at Gilbert's disposal.
The Root Sports broadcast over Gilbert's last couple starts has praised him for adding to his pitch profile every single year he's been in the majors.
One of those newer pitches has been his splitter, which has quickly become not just one of the most effective pitches in Gilbert's arsenal, but one of the best pitches in the whole league.
Gilbert took some time with the Seattle Times' Adam Jude and Pitching Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja on Twitter) to talk about his pitching arsenal on Tuesday.
— Adam Jude (@A_Jude) July 15, 2024
Gilbert's grip for his splitter is somewhat unique. So unique that Freidman has been trying to give it a name (the trident and albatross among potential monikers).
"I've basically just threw my ring finger up (with the grip)," Gilbert said Tuesday. "(I was doing that in spring training). I went off of that, now I went back to it. And it just takes care of the action for me, same as my slider. It's basically all the same story: how can I find a grip that I'm throwing it as hard as I can and the grip does all the work for me. And this is basically where I landed right here."
Freidman pointed out the how little the splitter spins — an abnormal quality for that kind of pitch.
According to Baseball Savant, Gilbert has thrown the splitter 250 times (13.6% of his total pitches) and the track rate creates a path that geographer's probably dream of.
Opponents are hitting just .082 (five hits total) and have struck out 39 times.
The Mariners open up the second of the season on Friday at 7:10 p.m. PT against the Astros.
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