Good, Bad, and Ugly: Thoughts on Logan Gilbert, Mariners’ Poor Offensive Effort in 2-0 Loss to Red Sox
Who invited you back?
In a loss that looked oh-so-familiar to many games the Seattle Mariners have, well, lost over the last two-plus seasons, the Mariners wasted the return of Logan Gilbert and didn’t build upon their sweep of the Cleveland Guardians in a 2-0 defeat to the Boston Red Sox.
Let’s look at the good and ugly — yep, nothing in between — in the series-opening loss to Boston at T-Mobile Park:
Good: Logan Gilbert
Good doesn’t really sell how impressive Gilbert was in his first start after returning from the injured list from elbow inflammation. He gave up two runs over five innings, but that doesn’t really indicate how well the right-hander threw from the mound. He was able to strike out 10 and initiated a whopping 21 swings-and-misses against the Boston lineup.
Put simply and hopefully succinctly, Gilbert showed why he was considered the ace of the Seattle Mariners on Monday, and it’s beyond encouraging for his upcoming outings. The Mariners’ rotation is starting to finally feel like it did in 2024, even with no Bryce Miller. Keep in mind that Gilbert was working with a strict pinch count; he easily could have gone another inning or two and added a handful or so more strikeouts.
Good: Rafael Devers Doesn’t Play for Red Sox Anymore
I’m sure someone will ask because I got asked a bunch on social media, but yes, the Mariners easily could have matched that trade package for Devers. I was told by a few sources they never got that chance, but they probably wouldn’t have done it anyway for reasons that are pretty obvious.
That being said, I’m glad the Mariners will face Rafael Devers fewer times now that he’s in the National League, and I appreciate Boston doing what they needed to do to keep me happy.
Ugly, Vile, Despicable, Anger-Inducing: The Offense
I don’t know if I can overstate how bad the offense was Monday night. I will give some credit to Lucas Giolito, a pitcher who is not bereft of talent and was coming off a solid start against Tampa Bay. No matter how terrible your favorite team plays, you have to at least give some credit to the opposing nine. They’re trying too, and their pitchers — particularly Giolito and Aroldis Chapman — succeeded. A lot.
That out of the way, this offense was embarrassing Monday night. They struck out 15 times against pitchers — sans Chapman — they shouldn’t be flailing against, and they were consistently bad throughout the contest. The most glaring uh-oh is the third inning where they loaded the bases with no one out only for J.P. Crawford, Julio Rodriguez, and Cal Raleigh to all strike out, but don’t let that fool you; this was not a “they had their chances and let em off the hook” kinda effort. This was just a pathetic offensive effort from essentially every hitter in the lineup.
No one is asking the Mariners to win every single game. Well, no one is expecting it anyway; me and my Grandma would love to see a 162-0 season. But there’s a pretty big difference from asking Seattle to win every contest and to look competent, and it’s especially disappointing after they played so well in the sweep of the Guardians. They really need to win these next two games to avoid (another) disappointing homestand, even with the sweep.
