Logan Gilbert Named Mariners’ Opening Day Starter
Seattle Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert fires a pitch during a regular season game at T-Mobile Park. Credit: Logan Gilbert/Instagram
Logan Gilbert established himself as the head of the deepest rotation in baseball in 2024, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he has officially been named the Mariners' Opening Day starter. He is the 19th unique pitcher to be given that distinction in franchise history.
“I was super excited,” Gilbert told reporters when asked what his reaction to the news was. “A little caught off-guard because I didn’t want to expect it, of course, with [Luis Castillo] being the veteran guy and he’s completely deserving. … It’s something you always dream of. It’s a really big deal, so I don’t take it lightly.”
Taken in the first round of the 2018 MLB draft out of Stetson, Gilbert has made significant improvements in each of his first four major-league seasons. He was a large part of the rotation that helped Seattle break its infamously long playoff drought in 2022 and took the ball in the first game of the ALDS versus the Astros, going 5.1 innings with five strikeouts, two walks, and three earned runs allowed on five hits in his postseason debut. Known for being a tinkerer, he went on to develop a splitter that following offseason. The pitch almost immediately took his arsenal to another level in 2023, setting the stage for his breakout season a year later.
With a year's worth of throwing the splitter under his belt, Gilbert was one of the game's 10 best pitchers in 2024. He led the majors in innings pitched with 208.2 and was one of just four starters to eclipse the 200-inning mark. Despite some struggles with the home run ball, particularly late in his starts, Gilbert accumulated a career-high 4.1 wins above replacement in FanGraphs' model, averaging 9.49 strikeouts per nine innings pitched with a 3.23 ERA and a 3.27 FIP.
For his efforts, Gilbert was named one of the Mariners' two All-Star selections in 2024, joining reliever Andrés Muñoz. He also finished sixth in American League Cy Young award voting with 25 total points, including a second-place vote and a pair of third-place votes. The totality of those achievements made him the clear ace of the Mariners’ rotation, supplanting Luis Castillo, who served as the team’s Opening Day starter in 2023 and 2024.
“He’s excited about the opportunity,” manager Dan Wilson said of Gilbert. “What a great year he had. Luis Castillo has carried that torch, deservedly so, over the last few years and makes it a difficult decision. But the way Luis has handled it is awesome and he is a true professional, and he has poured a lot into these young pitchers over the course of the last couple years, and so I think he can feel proud as well as Logan takes the mound to start Opening Day because of the work he’s put into them.”
Gilbert is still playing on his rookie contract and has three years left of club control, including this upcoming season. In his second year of arbitration eligibility this winter, he and the Mariners agreed upon a pay increase from $4 million to $7.6 million. But one of the biggest long-term questions for the Mariners' organization is whether or not the clock is running out on Gilbert's time in Seattle.
"I love being here, and I'm not just saying that," Gilbert told Mike Salk and Brock Huard of 710 Seattle Sports when asked about the possibility of signing a contract extension earlier this spring. "[The Mariners have] been good to me. ... It has to be the right situation for sure, but I'm definitely open to it. We've had, I mean, loose talks. Haven't gotten there, but it's been optimistic, I would say.
A potential extension may only get more expensive with time. Gilbert has essentially been the poster child of a Mariners pitching development system that has become the model of baseball. He was the first of the four homegrown starters currently in Seattle's rotation to make it to the majors, and his success story continues to grow a half-decade later.
Now he'll take the bump when the Mariners kick off the regular season against the Athletics on March 27, yet another milestone met in his young career and yet another point in his favor when it comes to negotiating an extension with the club that has entrusted him with such an honor.
