Logan Gilbert was expected to have joined the M’s if the season had not been delayed. (Getty)
If the Mariners’ season had gone according to plan, chances are high that Logan Gilbert, the first-round pick of the 2018 Seattle draft, would have already been in the major league club.
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Of all the players at Mariners Summer Camp, he may be the one who has lost the most with most of the season eliminated. Seeing the delay in the arrival of the right-hander to the big leagues could be a difficult pill to swallow, but he’s worked hard not to look at it that way.
“It is difficult, it is easier said than actually done,” Gilbert said Sunday. “I think at this point you might let me think about it, but it’s really just wasted energy when it comes to that. This is the situation I am in, so all I can do is make the most of it and just waiting and wishing things had taken a different turn is really not going to help me at all. ”
Gilbert sees what he has now as better than the alternative of not playing baseball this year, which he sometimes felt was a possibility during the shutdown. His goal now is to get as many tickets as he can and continue his development. That will have to happen as a member of a taxi squad, but he believes it may be beneficial.
“Obviously it’s going to be a little bit more difficult, but that’s how the season goes,” he said. “As long as I have competitive innings, in front of hitters and stuff, I think I can still keep growing. Some of the things I wanted to improve earlier in the year in terms of my pitches and what I do on the mound, it’s still very realistic to get in and out for the rest of the year. “
The Mariners’ taxi team will also include George Kirby, Emerson Hancock, Brandon Williamson, and Isaiah Campbell, all first-round recruits, and all possible future rotation partners for Gilbert. He said he hopes to get to know them a little better, something offered to him by training in the afternoon group that is made up primarily of the Mariners’ younger players.
“They just have a lot of energy and a lot of talent,” he said. “It’s great to have that group of young people and a little bit more bond with those guys and hopefully be able to brainstorm with each other.” At the end of the day, we are all trying to improve and help each other improve. “
Having the best pitching prospects together at the same level is a unique situation and there could be a future benefit as we saw with the Double-A Arkansas group in 2019. It is something that we will not be able to see in Tacoma, but maybe something that we heard in the future. They are all part of the Mariners looking to get what they can from the 2020 season.
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