PHOENIX – All that Mariners fans and brass can ask for is that ace Logan Gilbert comes out of each rehab start for Triple-A Tacoma feeling healthy and ready to return for what everyone hopes is a long summer and autumn of baseball ahead.
But Gilbert will take results, too.
The 2024 All-Star mowed through five frames in a 2-1 win vs. Sacramento on Tuesday night at Cheney Stadium with a double and walk as his only blemishes. He tossed 43 of his 72 pitches for strikes and compiled six punchouts, including at least one in each frame of work. A schedule quirk meant that the Rainiers played as the road team in their home park, but not even that oddity sidetracked Gilbert.
His pitch usage was largely in line with where it’s been in 2025 for the Mariners. He didn’t get many whiffs (just seven on 30 swings), but he did record eight called strikes on his slider alone. Gilbert threw 26 fastballs and averaged 95.7 mph, topping out at 97.6, an excellent indicator of health, particularly for a hurler coming back from a flexor strain in his pitching elbow.
If you’re keeping track at home, that’s 45 pitches in rehab outing No. 1, 60 pitches in No. 2 and 72 pitches in No. 3. Next stop: Seattle?
“We're just kind of reassessing after each start, but we'll see,” manager Dan Wilson said. “Increasing that pitch count is big and we’ll see how it goes for him, see how he bounces back and we’ll continue to assess.”
Seattle’s short-term rotation plans are certainly fluid after placing right-hander Bryce Miller on the injured list prior to Tuesday’s contest, with the expectation being that they’ll be without one of their most consistent starters from last season for the better part of at least a month, a source told MLB.com.
Logan Evans was recalled from Tacoma and made the start for Seattle on Tuesday, but succumbed to a pesky Arizona offense that constantly put men on base, leading to a 10-3 defeat at Chase Field. The Mariners have dropped seven of their last eight contests and slide back to .500 for the first time since April 18.
Evans worked five innings and yielded four runs, but largely saw the command (87 pitches, just 50 strikes) that has earned him seven starts at the big league level this season evade him.
But it wasn’t any of the hard-hit contact that led to frustration postgame – it was his momentary lapse in sprinting over to cover when D-backs center fielder Alek Thomas hit a two-hopper to first base to lead off the bottom of the fifth. The speedy Thomas beat Evans to the bag, eventually coming around to score in a frame that gave Arizona a four-run cushion.
“There's things out there that happen that you can't control, but getting over to first base is something I've done a million times,” Evans said. “And the fact that I let up there is just not only unacceptable for me, but for the team, obviously. It just kind of switches up the flow. It could have been a quick inning, then obviously we had those two home runs after that inning, so just frustrating things that keep me up [at night].”
While Evans has been used exclusively as a starter in 2025, the club did convert their No. 10 prospect to the bullpen for a month last summer with Double-A Arkansas as a means of potentially facilitating his arrival in Seattle.
With Gilbert’s return looming, he could join George Kirby, Luis Castillo, Bryan Woo and Emerson Hancock to form a potent starting staff.
The Mariners have the advantage of off-days in their favor. They’ll have back-to-back Thursdays off, and with Gilbert having remained on five days’ rest during his rehab, he would line up to pitch Monday at T-Mobile Park vs. the Red Sox; with there being no Minor League games on Monday, he would have to wait an additional day – thereby going on six days’ rest – before making another rehab start, should the club necessitate it.