Mariners’ George Kirby has success after changing another pitch grip ‘on the fly’
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – George Kirby decided he didn’t like the action of his curveball and how it worked against right-handed hitters.
So, on Tuesday, he decided to change the grip for the pitch. Instead of giving it some time to refine his command with it, he took it into his start on Wednesday.
Kirby threw it just six times – but he got five swings on it, including two whiffs, two foul balls and one ground out. It was a modified weapon to use for his gaudy arsenal of pitches.
“I just wanted to find something that has a little more depth and I can stay on the plate with it. And I thought I did that.”
Kirby used all five pitches in a variety of ways to deliver yet another quality start – his 10th of the season, while helping lead the Mariners to a much-needed 5-2 victory. He worked six innings, allowing one run on four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts to improve to 6-5 on the season.
Kirby has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last six outings, posting a 1.70 ERA. In 37 innings pitched, he’s struck out 40 batters, while walking only three.
As for the change to the grip on his curveball, Kirby was asked which teammate he stole it from. The question drew a smirk from Kirby. After all, he’s shown the ability to take pitch grips used by teammates and execute them with better command and precision.
“It’s one I’ve used in the past and Zac Gallen uses that grip,” he said of the Arizona Diamondbacks right-handed pitcher. “I know I throw it a little bit harder, but it just kind of eliminates the horizontal movement, which especially to righties, I kind of had a hard time with it. I feel like I would always just yank the curveball out of the zone. This just gives it a chance to be more on the plate.”
Most pitchers wouldn’t consider making such a change that quickly, but Kirby doesn’t think with that sort of caution. He’s been able to manipulate a baseball and its path to his advantage since he was a kid growing up in Rye, N.Y.
“If there’s any doubt in your mind, don’t throw it,” Kirby said. “For me, I’ve never really had a problem with making changes on the fly like that. So just grip it and rip it and see what happens.”