TODAY: Mariners manager Scott Servais went into more detail on the Kirby option today, telling reporters (including Jen Mueller of Root Sports) that beyond saving Kirby some innings, it also allows the Mariners to add a fresh bullpen arm to the active roster. Servais noted that the M’s will make a similar move with Kirby later in the season, to further preserve his arm. Kirby is slated to make a short start for Triple-A Tacoma, and he’ll rejoin the Mariners after the All-Star break.
JULY 9: In addition to the six roster moves announced earlier today, the Mariners have also made two more transactions. Right-hander George Kirby has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, while righty Jacob Barnes’ contract has been selected.
As noted by The Athletic’s Corey Brock and other reporters, Kirby’s demotion isn’t about performance, but rather the Mariners’ plans to manage his workload. Between Seattle’s off-day Monday and then the July 18-21 All-Star break, Kirby’s next big league outing likely isn’t coming until late July, though he’ll probably get a couple of brief outings at Triple-A to stay warm.
This will actually be Kirby’s first time at Triple-A ball, as the M’s promoted him straight from Double-A in early May. Between the majors and minors this season, Kirby has tossed 89 total innings — already the most he has tossed over four pro seasons. While some pundits disagree about the old “Verducci Effect” rule of thumb about the dangers of a big inning increase for young arms, Kirby’s previous season high was 67 2/3 frames in 2021, and of course Kirby didn’t pitch in any official games at all in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season.
With a 14-3 record over their last 17 games, the Mariners have gotten back over the .500 mark and back into the hunt for a wild card berth. Surely the team hopes Kirby can continue to be a big part of Seattle’s push to finally end its drought of postseason baseball, and that means picking and choosing when Kirby pitches in order to keep him as fresh as possible for big games in September (or, the M’s hope, even into October).
Some service-time elements could also be in play, in regards to Kirby’s future Super Two status. The Mariners didn’t select Kirby to the MLB roster until May 8, so if he spends two weeks in Triple-A, that could put him on the borderline for future Super Two consideration if a future cutoff point is on the higher side. Missing on a fourth arbitration-eligible year would cost Kirby some serious money, though he will be getting some bonus this year under the new collective bargaining agreement’s performance bonus program for pre-arb players. As well, Kirby would automatically lock in a full year of service time and even more bonus money if he scores a top-two finish in AL Rookie Of The Year voting, though several other impressive AL rookies (including teammate Julio Rodriguez) seem favored for higher finishes in the balloting.
Kirby has looked good in his first taste of the big leagues, posting a 3.78 ERA/3.45 SIERA over 64 1/3 innings for Seattle. The 20th overall pick of the 2019 draft has allowed a lot of hard contact and his Statcast numbers aren’t overly impressive, but Kirby has an elite 3.3% walk rate that ranks in the 99th percentile of all pitchers.
Barnes posted a 6.10 ERA over 20 2/3 innings with the Tigers this season before Detroit cut him loose in June, and the Mariners inked Barnes to a new minor league contract. He has yet to pitch for the M’s at the big league level. A solid relief arm with the Brewers in 2016-18, Barnes has been trying to recapture that form ever since, posting a 6.48 ERA over an even 100 innings with six different clubs over the last three-plus years.
BOOO why option George???
The article literally says why
Posted before update, sorry guys
D’Oh!
Kirby must still have options, hopefully he’ll be back soon, and even better.
Kirby has yet to be sent down since making his MLB debut in May. He has options. Plenty options.
So I know what options are…but how many does a player get (or have)? Like 5? 8? I can’t see it being a negotiated thing between team and player, but a standard contractual thing from the CBA.
3
3, but it goes by season. So if a guy goes up and down 4 times during the season, that only counts as one option.
It also counts as using an option if a minor-league player is added to the 40-man roster but stays in the minors that season.
When a player is optioned they can move up and down as many times as the team needs/wants. Not trying to step on Hidekis shoes but that is important to know IMHO. Some have wondered on here how a guy can move up and down so many times.
Worth adding this isn’t exactly true anymore. Specifically, under the new cba a player can only be optioned 5 x during a single season. I’m not 100% sure but I think if they try to send them down again they have to pass through waivers. Setting to watch later this year as there are a number of dudes that have already racked up 3-4 so far this year, and it’s a brand new rule so no team has experience having to manage that in a stretch run.
Thanks for the update either missed or forgot probably forgot these old brains do that.
I’m glad you asked about Options Vaderzim- I learned something new in this thread.
However G Kirby is not being sent down to improve, it’s not a demotion per se. This procedural move is not like the traditional option being discussed here where a young pitcher or a struggling pitcher is sent down to work on getting better. This move is strictly to curb (pun intended) his innings usage.
This year Kirby was promoted from AA after 5 games. He has yet to exceed 67 ip in a single season since being picked in the 2019 draft.
Seattle is very cautious with their young pitchers workloads. George Kirby is going to be a stud in this League and he is very much a part of Seattle’s plans for the 2nd half push for one of the 3 WC spots. This move is to keep his arm ‘fresh’ so he can be our SP5 in Aug and Sept and hopefully be available to contribute in some fashion when the leaves lose their chlorophyll in OCT! 🙂
Makes perfect sense. He will most certainly be back!!!
The Mariners don’t worry about service time. Their former President and CEO Ken Mather said so. Err, come to think about it, I guess he said the opposite.
I don’t know if this is service-time related or not. If they pitch him in AAA, even if it’s only for a few innings, then that could be a sign it is service time. After all, if they’re looking to reduce innings, but still get value, then have him pitch out of the pen for a bit where they’re still getting value on the big league level. He’s had a fine year, but he’s also not finishing in the top two in ROY voting, especially now that he’s back in the minors. Another benefit for the Mariners on the service-time side.
It also has to do with getting an extra roster spot. Was Kirby likely to pitch again before the ASG break? If not, then why not ‘option’ him and get a guy who might contribute in some way, even if that’s only a low-leverage reliever.
Another article I read said that he knew it was coming. He is scheduled to pitch in a couple games for 2-3 innings depends on pitch count. He said he wants to be back soon but understands.
I certainly leave open the option this has nothing to do with service-time manipulation. I’ve actually defended them with Kelnic as it seemed clear they would have been rushing him, which turned out to be the case. That said, I think there can be two truths here.
if Kirby is going to pitch a few innings in the minors anyway, why not use him as the low-leverage reliever?
My guess would be that they can schedule that in AAA to keep him pitching every four, five, or six days. Whatever they want. There’s no real ramifications for that. The dude only pitched like 80 innings in a season in the minors, once. They don’t need to burn his future to prove something in 2022.
Bearproof – this move is simply to keep his arm fresh. It has absolutely nothing to do with service time. He has never exceeded 67 ip in a single season. He was Seattles #1 pick in the 2019 draft so technically 2021 was his only full year in his Minor League career.
Re: your “low leverage RP role” comment – 2 reasons: 1) if he is used in that role that means Seattle has to send down their current LLRP Tommy Millone who is out of options. 2) That role could still bring the potential of ‘stress’ on his arm. Meaning if he runs in to any trouble he could put maximum effort on his pitches trying to avoid letting his teammates down should he run into any trouble in a meaningful game. His limited workload in Tacoma (or possibly in AA Arkansas) doesn’t come with the same set of consequences.
Jacob Barnes is the new Oliver Drake.
Is that a tractor?
He still has a lot of work to do. But damn, he is impressive. He is still figuring out that you’re stuff isn’t good enough to throw get me over pitches all the time in the majors. He has the ability to be pinpoint control wise. Just needs some seasoning. He did a great job battling a tough lineup yesterday; somehow only giving up 2 runs on double digit hits
He sure is great to watch, and his rookie performance should inspire fan confidence in the current direction of the team. I’m wondering how soon we’ll get to see Taylor Dollard (1.38 ERA, 0.881 WHIP in 78 IP at AA Arkansas)? No sense rushing Dollard, but it seems like they want to give him a cup or two of coffee if the rotation starts to show fatigue.
Well and Emerson Hancock is getting back to form in Arkansas. His stuff is so good that he could be a fast riser himself. Pitching depth is so important! I feel like we have great organizational depth pitching wise. But other than maybe Marte and Kelenic, I do fear that reinforcements offensively will have to come from FA and trades over the next couple years.
True that. I think Dipoto and staff have done an excellent job with drafting and developing some young pitchers, maybe even enough that they wouldn’t have to go outside the organization at the trade deadline for pitching help. I’m certainly no GM, but am thinking if they prioritize the addition of more hitting at the deadline, it might be someone who can play second base. Toro and Frazier have been good with the gloves, and good defense up the middle is very important… I just wish those two were more consistent hitters.
He’s basically Shane Bieber 2.0 pre breakout. What the Mariners are essentially doing is what the San Diego Padres did with Chris Paddack years ago.
how many organizations has Barnes been with now?
I count 7.
Scott Servais pre-announces how they will manipulate Kirby’s service time.
I don’t know about that, man. It’s business, I’m not gonna be shocked if that’s what’s going on but they just chose to skip Chris flexen in this big series against the Jays, and chose to start Kirby on Friday. I think they view him as a major part of this season.
NWM’sRaptor- this procedural move to manage Kirby’s workload was discussed at length in the local media over the 2022 preseason and in multiple National media articles during this current season.
Kirby had such a good Minor League year in 2021 but he only pitched 67 innings. His highest total since becoming a pro. He’s always been known as a “strike thrower” coming up but ever since his FB velo took a big jump up to 97, 98 mph and his secondary pitches improved in that 2021 season the Seattle Org knew it would have a (great) problem- how to get an elite young pitcher up into the Big Leagues w/o rushing his development and/or overworking him at the ML level.
This move down the I-5 South has always been Seattle’s blueprint to manage that workload of their 2019 #1 pick.
It IS remarkable that Kirby is having such a good impact in SEA despite only having a Minor League career that’s the equivalent of 2/3 of a season (117ip.) He’s essentially learning to get the world’s best hitters out on the fly as a player who’s 4.5 yrs younger than the ML average age! The future is bright for the SEA rotation- what a 1-2-3 punch: Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby and even Marco Gonzales is a great SP4. He’s been on a great roll (for an SP4) the last couple seasons.
George Kirby, ah, a name that shall live in infamy.
Says TheAmericanRedneck ironically