SEATTLE -- The final fastballs from Logan Gilbert had more flair on Tuesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park, as the Mariners’ ace topped out around 94 mph when throwing his first full bullpen session since suffering a right elbow flexor strain on April 25.
Gilbert was at around 90% effort over the roughly 25-pitch session while mixing in all of his pitches, including the splitter, slider and curveball.
“I think the intensity I'm at now is more like back to what I'm familiar with,” Gilbert said. “Like, it's more than a mid-week bullpen would be, anyways, so I kind of feel like I'm back in the rhythm of normal.”
The next steps would be three days before getting back on the mound again for another ‘pen, with catch play in between, as Gilbert likened the progression to that of Spring Training. He most recently threw off a mound on Sunday, but only to a standing catcher and at less intensity.
“The other day was kind of like I think getting to today,” Gilbert said. “But I couldn't really put anything on it. I put enough on it today to know that if I didn't feel fine, I would feel it. So I felt pretty good.”
Gilbert and the Mariners’ athletic training staff have been mostly mapping out his rehab on a tentative basis -- as in, if he feels good that day, they can forecast the next three days. Some of that, Gilbert said, has been related to not being completely sure to the root cause of the issue.
“It's tough,” Gilbert said. “Rest, and the trainers are doing a great job in the treatment and arm strengthening and stuff. But, like, we want so bad to always just pick one thing that's the cause, and then you can change that and protect it. But some things are just like random.
“We had a few guesses, but it's kind of like you don't really know. So we're kind of trying to be as diligent as we can on every front, from how I throw, the workload, the treatment and just a little bit of everything. The answer is probably random. I could have a few guesses, but it's probably either random or a combination of things, and you never really know for sure.”
Gilbert will almost certainly face hitters at some point before beginning a Minor League rehab assignment, which itself remains of intrigue for how many starts he’d need, given that he was much more stretched out than George Kirby, who will make his third, and potentially final, rehab outing for Triple-A Tacoma on Friday at Albuquerque. Kirby has looked sharp in his first two outings.
Gilbert began his throwing program on May 2, six days after being placed on the 15-day injured list for the first time in his career -- and far faster than the two-week shutdown period that the Mariners initially envisioned.
On a separate note, Gilbert and his wife, Aviles, revealed on Tuesday that they’re expecting the birth of their first child. Mariners pitching coach Pete Woodworth joked that once healthy, Gilbert will also be pitching with “Dad Strength” soon enough.