George Kirby (baseball)

Kirby grew up a fan of the New York Yankees in Westchester County, New York and attended Rye High School in Rye, where he played both baseball and basketball.[1] As a sophomore baseball player in 2014, he threw 153 pitches in the NYSPHSAA Section 1 Class A championship game to beat Lakeland High School.[2] Elon University began recruiting him to play college baseball in 2014.[1] After his junior season in 2015, he was named to the New York State Sportswriters Association's All-State First Team for Class A as a pitcher and first baseman[3] and The Journal News Westchester/Putnam All-Star First Team alongside Josiah Gray.[4] As a senior in 2016, he went 6–0 with a 0.32 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 43+1⁄3 innings[5] and was again named to the All-State First Team.[6] Although expected to be an early pick in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft, he fell to the New York Mets in the 32nd round because of signability concerns.[7] He chose not to sign with the Mets and instead chose to attend Elon to play college baseball for the Elon Phoenix.[8]

As a freshman at Elon in 2017, Kirby appeared in 16 games (five starts) and pitched to a 1–3 record with a 4.84 ERA, striking out 55 batters in 61+ 1⁄3 innings.[9] He was named to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) All-Rookie Team.[10] In 2018, as a sophomore, Kirby appeared and started in 15 games, going 10–3 with a 2.89 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 90+ 1⁄3 innings.[11] He earned a spot on the All-CAA Second Team.[12] After the season, Kirby played in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Harwich Mariners where he posted a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings.[13][14] Prior to the 2019 season, Kirby was named a preseason All-American by both Baseball America and Perfect Game.[15][16] He was named the 2019 CAA Pitcher of the Year after going 8–2 with a 2.75 ERA in 14 starts, striking out 107 batters and walking only six in 88+1⁄3 innings.[17][18]

Considered to be one of the top prospects for the 2019 Major League Baseball draft, Kirby was drafted by the Seattle Mariners with the 20th overall pick.[19][20] He signed with Seattle for $3.24 million.[21] After signing, he was assigned to the Everett AquaSox of the Class A Short Season Northwest League, with whom he spent all of the 2019 season.[22][23] Over nine games (eight starts), Kirby compiled a 2.35 ERA, striking out 25 over 23 innings.[24] Kirby did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[25] To begin 2021, he returned to Everett, now members of the High-A West.[26] In August, he was promoted to the Arkansas Travelers of the Double-A Central.[27] Over 15 starts between the two clubs, Kirby compiled a 5–3 record and 2.53 ERA, striking out eighty batters over 67+2⁄3 innings.[28] Kirby returned to Arkansas to open the 2022 season.[29]

On May 8, 2022, the Mariners selected Kirby's contract and promoted him to the major leagues.[30] He made his MLB debut that day as the starting pitcher versus the Tampa Bay Rays, and threw six scoreless innings in which he struck out seven batters.[31]

On August 24, 2022, while pitching against the Washington Nationals, Kirby set an MLB record by throwing 24 consecutive strikes to start the game, the most by a major league pitcher since 1988. The previous record was set by Joe Musgrove in 2018 with 21 consecutive strikes.[32]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet