The Seattle Mariners enter play on Saturday night at 4-4 overall on the young season following an extra-innings win against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday.

The M's got a great pitching performance from Bryan Woo, who went seven scoreless innings and has continued to assert himself as potentially the ace of the staff.

Though Woo is perceived by many as the ace, he doesn't have the longevity of Logan Gilbert, who is the longest-tenured Mariner on staff, having made his debut in 2021.

An All-Star in 2024, Gilbert is 47-37 lifetime with a 3.62 ERA. He had a dominant 2024, leading baseball in innings pitched (208.2) and pitching to a 3.23 ERA.

Furthermore, his gaudy strikeout totals have continued to impress. He fanned 220 batters in 2024 and then K'd 173 in just 131.0 innings last season. He's been the Opening Day starter in each of the last two seasons.

However, as the strikeouts have gone up, the efforts have gotten seemingly more laborious. Gilbert walked almost as many hitters (31) in 2025 as he did in 2024 (37) despite throwing nearly 80 fewer innings. His pitch counts have risen and he's failed to deeper into games.

We asked ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose' podcast about the perception of Gilbert nationally and if it matches what some Mariners fans are seeing:

"That he's, he's one of the best pitchers in baseball, that he's a top-20 guy, and that at some point, whenever he's paid, whether it's by the Mariners or another team, that he's going to get $150, $200 million. And he's very respected. But I also agree with you about the fact that, you know, his pitch counts will mount.

It's interesting because I think 20 years ago, teams would have a guy like this who would need a lot of pitches to get through games, and there would be conversations about, 'hey, why don't you get some easy outs, make soft contact in the zone, get some ground balls, and let's go forward.'

In baseball in 2026, I think teams, generally speaking, would rather have pitchers throw their best stuff all the time and make an effort to get swing-and-miss. That's not to say that the Mariners want them to go 3.2 innings and throw 100 pitches, but I kind of wonder when you see guys like this, if there is necessarily going to be a big change.

I think the Mariners are probably like, 'you know, five innings of dominant stuff versus 6.1 innings of trying to, you know, make the opponent put the ball in play."

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