ROUGH LOOK- After His Start Last Night, George Kirby Admitted That He Wished His Manager Didn't Bring Him Out For The 7th Inning

Wow, I did not see this one coming. Over the last month and a half, the Mariners have given off some of the best vibes in all of baseball. They’ve been crazy hot. Not only are they trying to get back to the postseason for the second year in a row, but they’re also trying to catch the Houston Astros in the American League West.  George Kirby has been a big reason for that. I have really liked this kid ever since he was called up. Last night, he walked a batter for the first time since July. His control is video game-like. He was having a pretty good outing through six innings, hovering just around 90 pitches until he came back out for the seventh and got popped. The Mariners lost this game to the Rays 7-4. After the game, Kirby made the comment that I shared above. 

I feel like this is a big fat baseball no-no. Look, a part of me wants to defend Kirby a little bit here. We live in an age in which pitchers always blow out their arms. Kirby is a young pitcher, so a small part of me wants to give him credit for knowing his limitations. With that said, you're in a pennant chase; grow a set. It's such a bizarre statement because Kirby had gone more than six innings in 14 of his 26 starts before last night. It's not like he's some young rookie who's having his innings monitored. Kirby said he was right around 90 pitches when he was taken out of the game. His season high this year is 103. But he's gone over 90 in 17 of his 27 starts.

This is one of the dangers of having an athlete speak with the media right after a rough outing. I'm surprised stuff like this doesn't happen more often. These guys are competitive motherfuckers, they don't like losing. If I was ever an athlete, I'd say the most profane shit in my postgame interviews. As Kirby said, this is going to lead to a discussion. Scott Servais maintains a really good clubhouse culture in Seattle, but I can't imagine he will be too happy with Kirby going public about his frustrations.

If this was a story that came out of the south side of Chicago, I'd understand it. Dysfunctional clubhouses are forever tumultuous, but the Mariners? It just seems weird. Because of the culture there, this will all get sorted out. I don't see this being something that will cause a divide in the clubhouse, but I wanted to share it. It's kind of bizarre.