Mariners vs. Rangers: A tale of three pitchers

2) Gilbert impresses again:

When judging Logan Gilbert‘s third start of the campaign, it’s all about perspective. On the one hand he did not allow any runs or walks, which is telling when considering he had season highs of 6.2 innings and 92 pitches.

Gilbert gave up six hits but to no detriment, while also striking out four batters. As a result he leads the Majors with a 15-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio and is second with a 0.54 ERA, heading into Friday’s action.

Most important of all, the 24-year-old won his second game of the season, as he helped the Mariners secure a 4-2 victory. And yet, he was fairly critical of his performance versus the Rangers.

According to Gilbert, something didn’t feel quite right on the night. Speaking to the media, he said:

“It was kind of a weird night honestly. I don’t think I had my best stuff. I had things that worked good enough, I guess, but I wouldn’t say anything was just like nails. But it was at times good enough. A couple of good sliders and also a couple of terrible (ones).”

Part of the reason for this was down to Gilbert still getting used to his slider after working on it during the offseason. He is firmly focused on having a variety of quality pitches at his disposal to keep opposing batters off-balance.

When combining this with his self-critical analysis, you get more appreciation for how determined the Winter Park, Florida native is. He wants to be the best and you certainly can’t fault his mindset.

As far as Gilbert is concerned — no matter how good the statistics may look — he has yet to have what he would consider a complete performance this season. He said:

“The main thing that separates the really great pitchers (is) the ability to make those adjustments and when you need to have a pitch, you make a pitch and execute one. I think sometimes I did a good job of that and other times it got away from me a little bit.”

Of course, part of being the best means competing and succeeding against the top teams in the Majors. His next start will come in Tampa Bay, against a Rays team which secured the AL East last year with 100 wins and is expected to contend again in 2022.

NEXT: ANOTHER TOUGH DAY AT THE OFFICE