Maryvale, Ariz. -- Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby delivered a solid spring training start on Sunday afternoon against the Milwaukee Brewers, giving up one earned run on two hits and a walk over three innings. He struck out two, tossing 35 of his 55 pitches for strikes. 

However, it wasn't what happened during the game that turned heads, it's what Kirby said after. He told reporters, including our own Teren Kowatsch, that he's experimenting with his own PitchCom device, which will allow him to call his own pitches when he really feels "convicted" in something.

"It's just a way for me to have more conviction in some of my pitches, something that I really want to throw. Instead of shaking 20 times to get to one, you just press it and go from there," he said. He said he's still going to let catchers call pitches, but this is essentially a way for him to have more ownership and accountability over his outings.

He said he used it 8-10 times in the game on Sunday and he says that catcher Cal Raleigh is on board with it.

To Kirby's point, the pitcher is the one throwing the pitches and they have to have confidence and belief in what they're throwing. Sometimes, even the "wrong" pitch can work if it's thrown with confidence and conviction, and the "right" pitch can get hit if the pitcher isn't feeling it.

To Kirby's point, it also does help him mentally. Instead of second-guessing himself after the fact, he has an opportunity to go into a situation doing exactly what he wants. "I feel like there's always a pitch or two where you're like "oh, I wish I didn't throw that, and it's kind of the worst thing to do mentally..."

Furthermore, we see pitchers shake catchers all the time, so is this really any different? He's just pre-emptively doing it. As a player heading into his fifth season, Kirby has likely earned some latitude as well.

How many times will Kirby utilize this over the course of a game? Will it become a battle between him and the catching staff as the year goes on? Raleigh has developed a great trust from his pitching staff and has a great reputation as a student of the game and in developing gameplans. Does this clash with his work at all?

And will other pitchers start to see Kirby doing this and want the same freedoms?

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