The Mariners lost today, falling back to .500 in Cactus League play, but there’s still some fun to be had from today’s game. George Kirby made his spring debut and also debuted a new pitch; Statcast currently labels the 93-94 mph offering a slider, but it’s likely a cutter. He threw it twice, once for a foul tip and once for a groundout, so early results seem good. The cutter was one of the eight pitches Kirby needed to set down the A’s in the first, ending on a strikeout looking on a 98 mph sinker.
With just eight pitches, Kirby came out for a second inning, trying to mix in his splitter and curve but not quite finding the feeling for it, issuing rare back-to-back walks to open the inning, which prompted Dan Wilson to lift Kirby for minor-leaguer Elijah Dale.