The Seattle Mariners wrapped up the greatest postseason run in franchise history on Oct. 20, despite the fact that they lost in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

It was the first time the Mariners have ever been one game away from the World Series. What made the run especially impressive was where the team was at in April or May.

Seattle was hit with the injury bug early, losing starting-caliber players in the infield, outfield and on the pitching staff.

The Mariners starting rotation had four-of-five pitchers miss time. One of the players to miss time was George Kirby.

Kirby was the first starter to go down. He suffered right shoulder inflammation during spring training that kept him out of action until late May.

Despite missing two months of action, in addition to the time missed in spring training, Kirby bounced back and although he wasn't quite his "Furious George" self, he still had high moments.

Games played: 23

Pitching stats: 4.23 ERA, 10-8 Record, 126 IP, 137 SOs, 1.19 WHIP, .252 Opp. BA.

Kirby's calling card in his four-year major league career has been his command and efficiency. It's become an almost regular occurrence for Kirby to be among the major league-leaders in lowest walk-rate, and he couples it with high average velocity.

Kirby spent a large part of his first month back in action regaining his form and his walk-rate wasn't in the 99th percentile of baseball like it was in 2024, but it was still efficient.

Kirby's 2025 walk-rate (5.5%) ranked in the 89th percentile of baseball, according to Baseball Savant.

Kirby also posted a new career-best in strikeout rate (26.1%), which ranked in the 76th percentile of the major leagues.

Kirby also had positive strikeout stuff. His whiff rate (26.7%) and chase rate (29.8%) ranked in the 61st and 68th percentile of baseball, respectively.

Even in his worst and injury-plagued season, Kirby was still an efficient pitcher with positive stuff capable of elevating aspects of his game.

Kirby's fastball also remained efficient. He had an average velocity of 96.2 mph, which ranked in the 80th percentile of baseball. Opponents averaged .188 against his four-seamer. Kirby generated a whiff rate of 30.7% and a put-away rate of 23.4% with it. The next-lowest opponent batting average allowed by a Kirby offering was a .254 average with his knuckle curve.

Amidst Kirby's struggles, he was able to have career-best starts twice over the season. In two games against the Los Angeles Angels on June 8 and Sept. 14, respectively, Kirby set then matched a career-high with 14 strikeouts.

The first of those starts on June 8 was Kirby's longest and most efficient. In addition to his 14 strikeouts, Kirby didn't issue a free base and allowed two earned runs on as many hits (one home run) in seven innings pitched.

Kirby is still under team control for the next several seasons. He'll be under team control through 2028. He'll play under his second year of arbitration in 2026 and is projected to earn $6.5 million according to Spotrac.

Even while dealing with an injury and needing several starts to get back to a consistent form, Kirby still showed enough to chalk up the down parts of 2025 to rare circumstances for the former All-Star.

Kirby pitched well enough to earn Game 1 and Game 5 starts in the American League Division Series, and he pitched well in those outings. However, he was roughed up in Game 3 of the ALCS by the Toronto Blue Jays, leaving him with a 6.00 ERA for the playoffs.

But there's no reason to expect Kirby won't be at his normal form in 2026.

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