How Big of a Leap can Logan Gilbert take in 2022?

In 2021, Logan Gilbert had a strong rookie season for the Mariners. He came up in May and pitched throughout the whole season and did a very solid job for Seattle. However, he did this by having basically only one pitch. Gilbert’s electric fastball was his only consistent pitch last season, and he still was a 2.2 WAR pitcher. In at least one of his Spring Training outings, he has looked even better than last year, and is showing just how big of a leap Gilbert could take in year two.

Logan Gilbert is going into the 2022 season as one of the 4 starting pitchers who are locks in the rotation for the Mariners. He is being counted on to be at least as good as he was last year, and if he can develop more consistency in his secondary weapons, then he could be one of the best M’s starters this season. Looking at the numbers for his pitches last year, he just has to command them better and throw them for strikes more often.

Opponents did not hit Logan Gilbert all that well last year. They hit .254 on his fastball, which he threw over 1300 times in 2021. We all know how good of a pitch it is, due to his mid to high 90s velocity, long extension, and the ability to throw it for a strike in any count. Some of the off-speed weapons that he threw in 2021 baffled hitters as well. Opposing batters hit .067 on curveball last year, but he only threw it 145 times. His spray chart of this pitch was also all over the place.

They also only hit .211 on his slider, but that pitch was not consistently a strike enough. The only pitch that hitters saw well last year was his changeup, which they hit .364 on. These numbers from Baseball Savant show that Gilbert did very well when hitters actually swung at all his pitches. The problem was that he did not happen enough. There were too many starts where he did not have anything besides the fastball, and if he can improve that in 2022, he will be great.

If Gilbert can command all of his pitches like he had been in the minor leagues before his rookie season, then he can be a legitimate number 2 starter for the Mariners. If he can have three plus pitches that he can command in a game, then he will be scary good. He has the potential to have the best season of any Mariners starting pitcher on their roster right now. He could be better than Robbie Ray at his best, which would be incredible to see. Watching Gilbert will be exciting in 2022.