Logan Gilbert Earning Right to Start Mariners’ Potential Wild Card Game

Seattle Mariners fans knew at the beginning of the year that star pitching prospect Logan Gilbert would be called up at some point during the season, but not many guessed he would find success as soon as he has; the 6’6″ right-hander has started 24 games, posting a 6-5 record with a 4.68 ERA and 128 strikeouts.

After a clutch performance against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night, Logan Gilbert is now in line to start the Mariners’ potential Wild Card game.

In September, Gilbert has started six games, posting a 1-0 record with a 2.70 ERA and 31 strikeouts. His performance this month has been a major part of the Mariners’ unexpected playoff push, and he’s become as trusted as any other Mariners starter to pitch in a big moment.

Starting Friday night, the Mariners have Marco Gonzales, Chris Flexen, and Tyler Anderson starting on the mound (in order), then there is a day off on Monday before a potential Wild Card game on Tuesday. If he pitches on Tuesday, Gilbert would be given five full days of rest, which is one more day of rest than he’s been given over the entire second half of the season.

Sometimes, teams decide to pitch their ace (for the Mariners, it’s arguably Marco Gonzales) in a must-win game on three days of rest, but if the New York Yankees are the opponent (which would be likely), Gilbert is still the best option; Gilbert has one start against the Yankees this season, and he went seven innings while giving up zero runs in a 4-0 Mariners win. That showing came after two straight Mariners losses in that series, which makes the performance even more impressive.

In Gonzales’ one start against the Yankees this season, he also owned them with a zero-run performance; however, its best to avoid starting a pitcher on three days of rest when they are used to a completely different schedule of arm recovery and game preparation. Gonzales, a location-oriented pitcher, relies heavily on game preparation in order to be successful.

Logan Gilbert has shown his ace potential over the month of September, and he’s proven he can take down the Yankees. If the Mariners do make it to the American League Wild Card game on Tuesday, Gilbert will be in line for the biggest start of his career.