In his fifth Major League season, Seattle Mariners right-hander George Kirby is learning that sometimes the best way to channel his inner fire is to keep it burning steady—not explosive. Known affectionately as "Furious George" (or "Angry Cheddar," as teammate Bryce Miller calls him), Kirby has built a reputation for his intense mound presence. But this year, he's trading fury for durability.
"I want to be a workhorse," Kirby said after his latest outing, a seven-inning gem against a scorching Atlanta Braves lineup. He allowed just two runs on a pair of unlucky hits, including a slow-rolling double that barely trickled down the right-field line at 71 mph off Mauricio Dubón's bat. It was the kind of start that shows Kirby is evolving from a fireballer into a reliable ace.
Through last night, Kirby has already logged 52 innings—second in all of baseball behind Yankees star Max Fried. The only other pitcher to cross the 50-inning threshold this season is Miami's Sandy Alcantara. That's elite company, and Kirby is proving he belongs.
What do these three aces have in common? Elite ground ball rates. Fried and Alcantara ranked in the top 20 last season, but Kirby is a newcomer to this club. After his start against Atlanta, his ground ball rate jumped to 57.6%—fourth-highest in MLB and second in the American League behind Anaheim's Jack Kochanowicz.
The shift is no accident. Last season, Kirby began leaning away from his four-seam fastball, dropping its usage from 45% in his rookie year to just 29% in 2025. In its place, he leaned heavily on his sweeper—a pitch he threw less than 10% of the time in 2022 but featured 28% of the time last season. The change generated more whiffs, but it came at a cost: his elite command slipped, pushing his walk rate to a nearly pedestrian 5.5%. Even more telling, he only completed seven innings three times in 2025, compared to six in 2024 and 11 in 2023.
Now, Kirby is finding a middle ground—keeping that "Angry George" edge while pitching deeper into games. For Mariners fans, that's a formula worth getting excited about.