George Kirby

George Kirby

27-Year-Old PitcherSP
Seattle Mariners
2025 Fantasy Outlook
For the second straight year, Kirby had the lowest walk rate among qualified starters. He got off to a rocky start with an eight-run blowup in his second outing of the year and a 4.33 ERA through his first 11 starts. However, Kirby then turned in nine consecutive quality starts from June 9 to July 26. Water usually finds its level, and Kirby's 3.53 ERA at the end of the year was pretty much right in line with the underlying skills (3.58 xFIP, 3.56 SIERA). He's reached 190 innings in back-to-back seasons, but that is likely out of reach for 2025 given Kirby will start the year on the year with a shoulder issue. The other problem is that he still has not shown any growth with his strikeout rate, which has hovered right around 23 percent in each of his three seasons in the majors so far. It's not out of the question that the right pitch-mix tweak could unlock another level with the punchouts, but that's purely conjecture at this point. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#89
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $4.3 million contract with the Mariners in January of 2025.
Falters again Wednesday
PSeattle Mariners
May 29, 2025
Kirby (0-2) took the loss against Washington on Wednesday, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four batters over five innings.
ANALYSIS
Kirby was hit hard in the outing -- four of the Nationals' seven hits against him went for extra bases, and three of those left the yard. The right-hander did go a little deeper with five innings after completing just 3.2 frames against Houston in his season debut May 22, but he's struggled in both outings and has now given up 11 runs through 8.2 innings this season. It's understandable that Kirby has some rust after missing nearly the first two months of the season with a shoulder injury, but his return to action has been frustrating for fantasy managers who held onto the hurler throughout his time on the IL. Kirby at least has a promising matchup lined up for him next, as he's tentatively scheduled to face the Orioles, who have scored the seventh-fewest runs in MLB so far this season.
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Pitching Stats
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2025
2024
2023
2022
2020
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2024 MLB Game Log
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
75
Last 10 Games
75
Last 5 Games
75
How many pitches does George Kirby generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does George Kirby generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2023
 
 
-5%
BAA vs RHP
2025
 
 
-10%
BAA vs LHP
2024
 
 
-9%
BAA vs RHP
2023
Even Split
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2023vs Left .255 735 174 28 177 33 7 25
Since 2023vs Right .243 842 185 17 196 34 4 22
2025vs Left .348 25 4 2 8 1 0 3
2025vs Right .385 17 4 1 5 0 1 0
2024vs Left .257 356 88 15 86 19 2 12
2024vs Right .234 422 91 8 95 19 1 10
2023vs Left .246 354 82 11 83 13 5 10
2023vs Right .247 403 90 8 96 15 2 12
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2023
 
 
-24%
ERA at Home
2025
 
 
-12%
ERA at Home
2024
 
 
-21%
ERA at Home
2023
 
 
-32%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2023Home 3.09 0.97 180.2 14 10 0 9.2 1.1 0.8
Since 2023Away 4.08 1.16 209.2 13 13 0 7.5 1.0 1.3
2025Home 10.80 1.80 5.0 0 1 0 7.2 3.6 5.4
2025Away 12.27 1.91 3.2 0 1 0 9.8 2.5 0.0
2024Home 3.06 1.01 82.1 6 5 0 9.2 1.1 0.5
2024Away 3.89 1.11 108.2 8 6 0 7.9 1.1 1.4
2023Home 2.70 0.89 93.1 8 4 0 9.3 1.0 0.9
2023Away 3.98 1.18 97.1 5 6 0 7.0 0.8 1.2
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does George Kirby compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
2.67
 
K/9
8.3
 
BB/9
3.1
 
HR/9
3.1
 
Fastball
96.0 mph
 
ERA
11.42
 
WHIP
1.85
 
BABIP
.378
 
GB/FB
2.40
 
Left On Base
42.4%
 
Exit Velocity
80.7 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
0.0%
 
Spin Rate
2092 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
23.1%
 
Swinging Strike
11.3%
 
Prospect Rankings History
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
After being highly touted as a prospect, Kirby showed great promise in his debut season in 2022. The right-hander took his game to another level in his sophomore campaign, shaving his walk rate from 4.1% to a minuscule 2.5%, the lowest among qualified starters. Kirby has already made history multiple times with his strike-throwing; he tossed 24 consecutive strikes at one point as a rookie and now owns the record for the most quality starts with zero walks (11) by a pitcher age 25 or younger. Kirby lowered his WHIP from 1.21 as a rookie to 1.04 last season while adding more than 60 innings to his 2022 total. His five-pitch mix would seem to give him some room for growth in the strikeout department (career 23.5 K%), but until we see that growth, Kirby should probably remain just outside the fantasy ace tier.
Kirby is an extremely fascinating pitching profile for a few reasons. His primary calling card is his fastball command as he has been incredibly stingy with walks as a pitcher since college. He has 43 walks in 247 innings of professional baseball and walked 50 in 240 innings as a college pitcher at Elon University. He uses that fastball command to fill the strikezone with his fastball as he throws his four-seamer 45% of the time and the league hit .221 against that pitch. That fastball, by velo and movement, aligns him with the likes of Brandon Woodruff, Frankie Montas, Zack Wheeler, and Jameson Taillon according to StatCast. The other part of his profile is the rest of his repertoire is very hittable as every other pitch he threw had an opponents' batting average .266 or higher. Despite that challenge, he won 8 of his 25 starts upon his promotion and still had a good ratios with a stellar 21% K-BB%. If any of his secondary offerings can take a step forward, things could get very interesting for him in a hurry as there were signficant gaps in his actual vs expected batting averages on his cutter, sinker, and slider. Wide awake sleeper!
At this point, Kirby seems like a near finished product by pitching prospect standards, with the main question mark being durability. He regularly went seven or eight days in between starts last year and missed three weeks in May and and another four weeks in July with shoulder/arm issues. All told, the 6-foot-4 righty logged a 2.53 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 80:15 K:BB in 67.2 innings (15 starts) across High-A and Double-A. He has always had some of the best command and control in the minors, and Kirby now boasts a monster mid-to-high 90s fastball with good life and three secondary offerings with upside -- his plus upper-80s slider is currently his best offspeed pitch. It's easy to see Kirby maxing out as the Mariners' best pitcher and a true frontline arm if he can start pushing up to 150-plus innings, but just getting to 120-plus innings would be an accomplishment in 2022.
On paper, Kirby stacks up with any pitching prospect in the game. The only problem is that we're still mostly working with scouting grades and biographical data, rather than a track record in pro games. His command projects to be as good as, if not better than, that of any other top pitching prospect, which is a nice place to start. He also has a picturesque delivery coming from a prototypical 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame. Kirby's command has typically been the highlight of his scouting report, but his low-90s fastball ticked up and became a mid-90s pitch that touched 99 mph this past summer at the alternate training site. The 20th overall pick in 2019 out of Elon (a small university in North Carolina) also boasts three average or better secondaries, with his slider and changeup each showing plus potential. He is advanced enough to reach the majors with fewer than 100 pro innings under his belt.
Amateur pitchers with Kirby's potentially elite command that also happen to have legitimate stuff are a rare breed. After walking six batters in 88.1 innings as a junior at Elon, Kirby issued zero walks over 23 innings in his debut. He has a prototypical 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame and a picturesque right-handed delivery. While he didn't face tough competition at the small North Carolina school, Kirby has four average or better pitches, with his low-90s fastball playing as a plus pitch due to his command and extension. Given his size, he could realistically gain fastball velocity with pro instruction. With this profile, we should expect excellent numbers, particularly in the lower levels, where his command and deep arsenal should carry the day. If a couple of his offspeed pitches become plus offerings, Kirby could develop into at least a No. 2 starter. Without any improvements, he could be a No. 4.
More Fantasy News
Struggles in season debut
PSeattle Mariners
May 22, 2025
Kirby (0-1) allowed five runs on six hits and a walk while striking out four over 3.2 innings to take the loss Thursday versus the Astros.
ANALYSIS
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Activated ahead of 2025 debut
PSeattle Mariners
May 22, 2025
The Mariners activated Kirby (shoulder) from the 15-day injured list Thursday.
ANALYSIS
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Set for season debut Thursday
PSeattle Mariners
Shoulder
May 21, 2025
Mariners manager Dan Wilson said Wednesday that Kirby (shoulder) will be activated from the 15-day injured list to start Thursday's game in Houston, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times reports.
ANALYSIS
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Feels ready to return
PSeattle Mariners
Shoulder
May 18, 2025
Kirby (shoulder) said Sunday that he's ready to rejoin the Mariners after making his third rehab start Friday, though a decision has yet to be made on whether he'll require another outing in the minors before being activated from the injured list, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports.
ANALYSIS
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Covers 64 pitches in rehab start
PSeattle Mariners
Shoulder
May 17, 2025
Kirby (shoulder) allowed four earned runs on 10 hits and no walks while striking out four over four innings in his rehab start for Triple-A Tacoma on Friday.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Not untouchable?
PSeattle Mariners
July 20, 2023
Kirby could be included as part of a package for Shohei Ohtani, speculates Jim Bowden of The Athletic.
ANALYSIS
Kirby, a 2019 first-round pick, owns a 3.43 ERA this season and a 3.41 ERA across 43 career starts. His .266 expected batting average is subpar, but he counters that with excellent control that's evidenced by his 2.4 percent walk rate, which is the best mark among all qualifiers. He's a logically desirable target in the context of an Ohtani blockbuster.
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