Prior to the 2024 season, George Kirby was a popular pick to be a Cy Young candidate, a top-10 pitcher by whatever assessment system one fancies. But in last off season’s 40 in 40 on Kirby, Nick pointed out that Kirby had been the beneficiary of some luck in 2023, as several key expected metrics all increased, along with his hard-hit rate, while his strikeout percentage decreased slightly; and lo and behold, Kirby, while being very good, failed to land himself in the Cy conversation, being surpassed by teammate Logan Gilbert as the staff ace. Way back almost a year ago, Nick’s suggested fix was something that would become a theme of articles penned about Kirby in 2024: the strike-zone obsessed Elon product was perhaps becoming predictable, and should consider wrong-footing hitters by mixing his stellar command with purposeful misses, something that feels like anathema for a pitcher whose early calling card has been his allergy to throwing out of the zone.
40 in 40 2025: George Kirby
