George

Kirby

The big blow was a three-run homer from Riley Greene, who got ahold of a splitter tailing away from him and drove it out to the opposite field. It was a very impressive feat, but it was also a shot that would have been a homer in only six ballparks. So, Kirby could have been a little more fortunate in this one. The homer was the first he’s allowed in four starts. The victory, only the second of his career in which he’s allowed more than three runs, makes him 4-4 with a 4.50 ERA. He’ll likely face the Astros in the first series after the break.

Kirby allowed just four hits on the day — all of them singles — and didn’t allow a single base on balls. The only real threat against him came in the fifth inning as the Pirates put together two singles to put two runners on base with one out, but Kirby battled back to get Isiah Kiner-Falefa to bounce into a fielder’s choice before retiring Spencer Horwitz on a foul pop to third. Kirby got 19 whiffs on 93 pitches on the day — seven each on his heater and slider — while posting a strong CSW of 34 percent. Kirby now sits at 3-4 on the season with a 4.22 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and a 50/9 K/BB ratio over 49 innings in his first nine starts. He’ll look to replicate this fine effort when he takes on the Tigers in Detroit on Saturday to finish out his first half.

This makes back-to-back outings where Kirby has gone six innings and allowed just a run, and it’s nice to see given his inconsistency to open his 2025 season after the injury. He didn’t issue a walk and struck out five, and the anemic Kansas City offense picked up just three hits off him while he was in the game. Kirby has a friendly matchup on paper against the Pirates over the weekend, and this is a reminder of why he can be an upper-echelon fantasy hurler — and has been in the past.

Kirby deserved better, but the Mariners couldn’t solve Joe Ryan so it’s a hard-luck loss; one Kirby has unfortunately been familiar with in his time with Seattle. He walked just one while striking out three, and is starting to look more like the version fantasy managers were hoping to see prior to 2025. He should continue to see his 5.40 ERA trend downward, and takes on the Royals on Monday in Seattle.

Kirby gave up homers to Ian Happ and Reese McGuire and left down 4-2 before the offense picked him up. His velocity and spin rates were down a bit today. It wasn’t enough to be immediately worrisome, but given that Kirby has missed time with shoulder inflammation, it’s worth keeping an eye on. He’s slated to face the Twins on Wednesday.

The runs scored on a double from Nolan Jones in the fourth and a solo homer from José Ramírez in the fifth. Kirby walked three tonight for the first time since 2022 and just the third time in 94 big-league starts. Still, that’s not a disaster; he might actually benefit from throwing fewer pitches within the strike zone. He’s set to face the Cubs in his next start Friday.

The 27-year-old right-hander allowed just two hits on the afternoon and didn’t walk a batter. Those two baserunners came in succession, as Mike Trout singled with two outs in the fourth inning and Taylor Ward crushed a two-run homer. Kirby then settled back in and retired each of the final 10 hitters that he faced in order. He also punched out every batter in the Angels’ lineup at least once during the magnificent performance. Kirby generated 14 swings and misses on 96 pitches in the ballgame — eight of them on his fastball which averaged 96.6 mph — while registering an elite CSW of 39 percent. He’ll see if he can build off of this stellar effort when he carries a 6.53 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 25/4 K/B ratio (20 2/3 innings) into Saturday’s tilt against the Guardians.

It’s an extremely encouraging sign that Kirby is feeling well enough to be out there after taking a line drive to the right side of his face during Tuesday’s start against the Orioles. Barring something unexpected, he should be ready to make his next start on Sunday against the division-rival Angels.

It sounds like Kirby, who had a noticeable bruise on the right side of his upper lip while speaking to reporters, managed to avoid serious injury when he was struck by a 102.7-mph line drive during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s outing. He added that the ball deflected off his right hand before hitting him in the face, managing to avoid any major damage. The 27-year-old righty appears on track to make his next start on Sunday against the Angels.

Kirby took a 102.7-mph line drive off the bat of Orioles infielder Ramón Urías directly to the face with two outs in the fifth inning. The positive news is that the ball appeared to deflect off his right hand before reaching his face. He was able to walk off the field under his own power but appeared to be bleeding from his mouth. He allowed two runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and one walk over five frames. There should be an additional update on his status following the game.