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Logan Gilbert named AL Pitcher of the Month

After a rookie year filled with some ups and downs, Logan Gilbert has settled in nicely at the top of the Mariners rotation

For the first time since 2017, the Seattle Mariners have an AL Pitcher of the Month. Of course it is Logan Gilbert, who was absolutely sterling this month.

Gilbert’s rookie campaign wasn’t unsuccessful by any means, but his ERA/FIP from 2021 are a little more pedestrian, back-end starterish than the sterling effort he’s put forth so far this season. Part of that is no doubt due to experience gained with pitching at the game’s highest level, but he’s also made specific improvements with his secondary pitches, as Mikey wrote about in Gilbert’s 40 in 40, and as John outlined regarding his changeup the other day.

The changeup, specifically, is a new fun instrument in Gilbert’s arsenal that helps him attack lefties better, and it currently has the highest whiff percentage of all his pitches, at 25%. As Gilbert’s comfort with his arsenal grows, he’s finding new ways to get batters out, and that is very bad news for opposing hitters, and very good news for Mariners fans.

Because he was so effective in April, Gilbert only recorded 1.2 innings defined as “high leverage” work, but in those high-leverage spots he was even better, striking out half the batters he saw and stranding every runner.