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George Kirby 2023 Player Outlook: Huge Upside after Pick 100
The Mariners' young prospect had some bumps in the road in his rookie campaign, but overall it was a really positive year for him. He made 25 starts with the Major League club and posted a 3.39 ERA with a 1.19 WHIP. His 24.5% K% and 4.1% BB% are reasons for huge optimism. He posted the fifth-best walk rate in the league among pitchers with 130+ IP. We should expect an increased strikeout rate in the future from Kirby, who had six starts in the Majors with 8 or more strikeouts last year. His four-seamer has a ton of velocity (95.3 average) and gets a bunch of whiffs (16% SwStr%), and he also gets a lot of whiffs on his cutter. The breaking and offspeed stuff were what kept him down a little bit last year, but he has three of those offerings to tinker with, and I have little doubt that he'll improve on that set of pitches in 2023. You have to love a young arm with this much talent who is already one of the best pitchers in the league at limiting walks. The ADP is right around 100, which is a little high for his lack of Major League experience, but the ceiling here is a top-ten SP.
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