The Mariners will promote standout pitching prospect Logan Gilbert, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Gilbert will start their game against the Indians on Thursday, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets.
This is the second major promotion coming this week for Seattle, which is also set to call up elite outfield prospect Jarred Kelenic prior to Thursday’s contest. The Mariners and their fans will get their first major league looks at two players they hope will be part of the solution in Seattle for the long haul.
Like Kelenic, Gilbert was part of the first-round class of 2018. The Mariners took the right-hander 14th overall out of Stetson University, where Cy Young winners Jacob deGrom and Corey Kluber attended. And though Gilbert didn’t pitch professionally that season because of mononucleosis, he has since dominated minor league competition. Gilbert combined for 135 innings among the Single-A, High-A and Double-A levels in 2019, when he recorded a sterling 2.13 ERA with 165 strikeouts against 33 walks. There was no minor league campaign in 2020, which prevented Gilbert from pitching in a real game, but he threw five innings of four-hit, one-run ball with five strikeouts and no walks in his Triple-A debut this year.
Thanks in part to the excellence he has shown at lower levels, Gilbert ranks as one of the sport’s premier pitching prospects. MLB.com places Gilbert No. 28 on its top 100 list and writes that his impressive four-pitch repertoire – a fastball, slider, curve and changeup – could help him turn into a No. 2 starter in the majors. Baseball America joins MLB.com in ranking Gilbert 28th, while FanGraphs (No. 37), ESPN (No. 43) and The Athletic (No. 47) also regard him as a top-end prospect.
Gilbert will now join a starting rotation that has received mixed results this year. Yusei Kikuchi, Chris Flexen and Justin Dunn have fared reasonably well over a combined 18 starts. On the other hand, the M’s only other hurlers with three or more starts – Marco Gonzales, Justus Sheffield and Nick Margevicius – haven’t performed as hoped. Gonzales and Margevicius have been out since late April with injuries.
If Gilbert takes hold of a rotation spot and stays up for good, the Mariners will be able to control him through 2027. He’s also slated for Super Two status, meaning he’ll go through arbitration four times.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
promote all the prospects!
“He will have 2 or 3 more starts before being promoted.” That is what I wrote on the Kelenic promotion article…#facepalm.
It’s okay. We know you meant 2 or 3 more meals.
I think that’s a regional term, actually. “How about we go for two strikes and a coupla’ starts there, Pop?” It makes sense when you think about it.
@Steve Nebraska
Sometimes you write stuff that makes me literally lol. This is one of those times.
Cambio- that might still have been the case had the M’s not lost 3 SP’s and 4 RP’s to injury
4 sps…
Cambio: Yeah, I think you typed that in response to my comment of “They need to bring Gilbert up next… to transform fr rebuilding to competing to contending”. Man, maybe we should send in our resumes. 😉
The service time rules makes all teams stash top prospects not come up. They need to do something about it.
mlbnyyfan: Re Gilbert: You do realize that the non-season (2020) would’ve been his 2nd season in the minors, right? At the end of that season when I expect the top college draftees to be knocking on the MLB door. As stated in this article, Gilbert didn’t pitch in his draft year (’18) and pitched in A, HI-A & AA in ’19. So in this instance I don’t think service time “manipulation” had anything to do with it. I think this is EXACTLY the right time to bring him up, but that’s just my opinion.
M’s have said they want Logan pitching through September as well, which is a reason why they have started him slowly
I believe he’s major league ready, but this still feels like a move made out of desperation. But I guess that’s what happens when you lose the replacement to James Paxton’s replacement as well as having Gonzales on the IL. Just hope Gilbert is fully built up and ready to go as they were taking it slow with him.
Well yeah 4 sps are on IL. Hes not fully built up. 60ish pitches in his last start. But that’s still better than a bullpen day.
Fine by me if they give him the hook after 50 pitches tomorrow. Let him get his feet wet, but don’t over-do it.
Wish I could go to the game tomorrow. That’s gonna be “lit” as the kids used to say.
Just one more: Bring up Cal Raleigh to catch Gilbert!
He is definitely not ready. Zunino’s forced promotion shows what happens when you hurry a catcher.
I think Zunino turned into a great catcher. His offense isn’t good but as a catcher behind the plate, he is everything a pitcher could want.
Zunino’s defense was always elite. That was never the issue
I know. I am saying that I don’t really care about a catcher’s offense if they are elite defensively.
Cambio, but why ruin a potentially plus tool just for a couple extra months in a season we are not realistically competing? Also, I don’t think the M’s have the same mindset about catchers as you. Besides, Raleigh isn’t an elite defender like Zunino, and even with elite D Zunino isn’t an everyday player. 83, 45, and 65 wRC+ seasons only take you so far, no matter how good you are defensively.
You might be right, but Raleigh may have a different make up and temperament than Zunino. Whatever, I doubt Raleigh will be brought up before the All Star game unless Murphy or Torrens is hurt — which could happen.
Somebody please hurt torrens
What a horrible thing to say.
Then there’s the fact that he has an OPS of 1.000 over the last 7 games. That more than makes up for the 1 mistake he probably won’t ever make again.
I didn’t like Dipotos moves when he was with the Angels. When Eppler arrived, it became obvious that Artie was the problem. Dipoto has done a masterful job in Seattle and has the Mariners are on the rise.
I hope the kid does well before he has TJ surgery. What is the cause for so many TJS? it has been devastating on young arms. Makes me sad. Maybe Gilbert can avoid it. Go get ’em, kid.
Exciting pitcher. He’s 6 6 it takes taller guys longer to develop typically so he’s probably still on his way up but good enough to play right now.
Huge frame. If he can control his stuff, with his size, he should be one hell of a pitcher.
YES! YES! YES!
I love everything about this guy, and he’s gonna have tons of success in the league. In a research thing about a year ago where I was trying to find my favorite pitcher on the MLB Top 100 Prospects list… and it was Gilbert. This guy has everything, and I am so happy that he’s up. Totally watching that start tomorrow.
Preciate the love, AL west bro.
@Rangers29
He is one of my favorites, call me crazy but DL hall might be mine. Kyle Muller should be awesome but that’s my braves bias.
Not to be confused with Churchill Downs chef Gilbert Logan.
Class act and complete competitor. Good luck Logan I’m pulling for you!
This guy won 5 Cy Youngs IN A ROW for the Mariners in my OOTP simulation. Then he won 2 more in the NL. Like wow
this dude even looks the part of a stud SP. stats to back it up too.