ELON, N.C. – The Seattle Mariners have added Elon University baseball alumni
George Kirby to their Major League camp as a non-roster invitee, as announced by the club on Wednesday, March 10.
"It's awesome to be back in the swing of things," said Kirby. "I'm just trying to be a sponge and gain as much knowledge as I can from the older guys."
Kirby spent the 2020 season at the Mariners' alternate training site. He is expected to begin the year in the minors and is seen as one of the top prospects in Seattle's farm system. In his one season with the Low-A Everett AquaSox in 2019, he made eight starts and nine appearances and did not issue a walk through 23 innings pitched. He finished with 25 strikeouts.
A right-handed pitcher out of Rye, N.Y., Kirby became the first Phoenix to be selected in the first round of the MLB Draft after being taken by the Mariners with the 20th overall pick in 2019. The Saturday starter for Elon that season, he helped the maroon and gold reach the 2019 CAA Championship Final, was named the CAA Pitcher of the Year and to the All-CAA First Team, was a three-time conference pitcher of the week, and was a semifinalist for the 2019 Golden Spikes Award. Kirby was also named an All-American by Baseball America, Perfect Game/Rawlings College, NCBWA, D1 Baseball and ABCA/Rawlings.
In his time at Elon, Kirby posted a 3.34 ERA, a 19-8 record, and two saves in 45 appearances and 34 starts. Other career totals include 258 strikeouts with just 50 walks in 240.0 innings pitched.
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