The Seattle Mariners are going to their rookie over last year’s Cy Young award winner for Game 3 of the ALDS against the Houston Astros. According to Mariners beat writer for the Seattle Times, Ryan Divish, manager Scott Servais confirmed the team is going with young George Kirby over veteran Robbie Ray on Saturday.
Servais confirms that George Kirby will start Game 3
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) October 12, 2022
Kirby is coming off a fantastic freshman season in the bigs. The 24-year-old went 8-5 with a 3.39 ERA to go along with 133 strikeouts in 130 innings over 25 starts. Kirby’s name came up in American League Rookie of the Year conversations this year, although that hardware appears to be going to teammate Julio Rodriguez.
It was initially assumed that 2021 Cy Young winner Robbie Ray would get the call for Game 3, but he was used in relief in Game 1. Ray gave up the walk-off three-run home run to Yordan Alvarez in the bottom of the ninth to take the loss on Houston’s comeback victory.
FanDuel Sportsbook has the M’s as +136 on the moneyline for Thursday’s Game 2 with Luis Castillo on the mound.
