Mariners News: 3 takeaways of ace George Kirby starting 2025 on IL

The Seattle Mariners have gotten their first real dose of bad news for 2025, as the team announced on Friday that ace right-hander George Kirby will begin the regular season on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.

The 27-year-old Kirby was the Mariners' second-best pitcher after Logan Gilbert in 2024, ultimately logging 191 innings with a 3.53 ERA and a league-leading rate of 1.1 walks per nine innings. He had arrived in Peoria for spring training with an even stronger outlook for 2025 thanks to a new pitch.

Here are three things Mariners fans need to know.

Takeaway No. 1: Kirby's injury is not serious

Though Kirby will be absent from the mound for the start of the season, Shannon Dreyer of Seattle Sports reports that an MRI on the righty's shoulder showed no structural damage:

As such, there is a possibility that Kirby will return to the Mariners' rotation not long after they open their season against the Athletics on March 27. Shoulder inflammation can sideline pitchers for longer, but the Baltimore Orioles had two cases (Grayson Rodriguez and Zach Eflin) last year in which the same injury cost a starter only about two weeks.

Takeaway No. 2: This still damages the Mariners' reputation

Per FanGraphs, Mariners starting pitchers spent a total of 89 days on the injured list in 2024. That was 123 fewer than the Philadelphia Phillies, and a whopping 1,122 fewer than the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It's an astonishing achievement that the Mariners should still be proud of, but Kirby's early-season injury reinforces that no team is capable of protecting starting pitchers from injury 100 percent of the time. The hope now must be that Kirby's IL time proves to be a blip and not a sign of things to come.

Takeaway No. 3: Emerson Hancock is the next man up

With Kirby on the sidelines, Emerson Hancock will get his chance to fill in behind Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller, and Bryan Woo.

The 25-year-old righty has struggled in the majors, posting a 4.71 ERA in 15 career starts. That comes with just 45 strikeouts in 72.2 innings, making for a shockingly low strikeout rate by the high standards of Seattle starters.

Hancock does have a new sweeper in his arsenal, however, and he's thus far fanned five of the 16 batters he's faced in spring training. While not a promise of a step-up in Kirby's absence, it will have to do for a sign that he can pick up his share of the slack until the Mariners get their ace back.