Is the George Kirby Injury More Troublesome For Seattle Mariners Than Originally Thought?
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One week ago, the Seattle Mariners announced that ace starting pitcher George Kirby will begin the year on the injured list because of right shoulder inflammation.
Now, the Mariners expressed no concerns over his shoulder and said that his MRI came back clean, which is good news, of course.
But is there still something to worry about? Well, speaking on the most recent edition of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast, ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney provided some context and said it's somewhere in the middle of "big deal" and "no deal at all."
I think it's somewhere in between. I think it absolutely is, for the Mariners, who just seemingly have such a slim margin for error, you've got to get as much production out of your big guys. And he's one of their big guys, an All-Star. And I say this: My experience in covering baseball for a lot of years is when teams tell you, 'yes, it's no problem, we think he's going to be fine, and they'll come back., they don't really know.
Because one pitch or one strain in his rehab, and suddenly something changes. Look at the Yankees with Gerrit Cole, right? He hurt his elbow in spring training last year. The biggest indicator of injuries to come are past injuries. But the Yankees picked up the last four years of his contract after Gerrit Cole initially opted out. Then the Yankees said, 'we'll still take you at 4 times 36 for $144 million for the next four years'. And then he blows out in spring training. Despite the fact that he looked good in the outings up till then. I hope that George Kirby's going to be okay. Shoulders can be less predictable than elbow injuries can be. And look, the Mariners need him. And so you hope that as he works his way back that there are no setbacks.
An All-Star in 2023, Kirby is 35-26 lifetime with a 3.43 ERA. He went 14-11 a season ago.
The Mariners begin the season on March 27 at home against the Athletics.
You can listen to the full Buster Olney interview below:
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