The Best Individual Pitching Performances from Each Starter in 2023

George Kirby - August 12th vs. BAL (9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K)

Game Score: 88

In September, George Kirby drew the ire of many extremely qualified and unbiased baseball experts on Twitter when he stated in a postgame interview that he should've been taken out of a game against the Rays sooner. People conveniently forgot that less than a month earlier, Kirby had thrown 103 pitches against the Orioles over nine innings while giving up no walks and earning seven strikeouts. Against a team that went on to win 101 games, Kirby earned 15 whiffs and topped at 99.7 mph on his four-seam fastball. He also had spin rates of 2500+ RPM on his curveball and slider. To cap it all off, he earned his own 27th putout with a caught flyball off of Cedric Mullins.

It was only fitting that on a night meant to celebrate the immense legacy of Felix Hernandez, the Mariners would fail to add any run support and lose in the tenth inning, with Kirby unable to record a complete game shutout. Nonetheless, it was as if the King himself was back on the mound.