Gilbert to make second consecutive Opening Day start for Mariners

PEORIA, Ariz. -- At long last, Mariners manager Dan Wilson was finally ready to reveal the club’s Opening Day starter on Thursday afternoon.

And to little surprise, given how Seattle had slotted its rotation throughout Cactus League play -- and that its selection is a homegrown ace who’s blossomed into an organizational ambassador -- Logan Gilbert will take the mound for the March 26 opener against the Guardians at T-Mobile Park.

This is the second straight year that Gilbert has been tabbed for the assignment.

“It's a big deal, a huge honor,” Gilbert said, “especially when you think about the rotation that we have and the guys here. To be honest, it could have been any of us. I understand that. But for them to pick me, I feel like it's just a big honor, big opportunity. So you never want to take that for granted.”

Gilbert, who’s entering his sixth season, is the club’s second-longest-tenured player behind shortstop J.P. Crawford, the lone holdover from the Mariners’ rebuild from 2019-20.

Gilbert has also become one of the sport’s premier workhorses, ranking eighth in innings since his debut on May 13, 2021, while making every start, sans a seven-week stint on the injured list last season -- his first in The Show.

And his track record of longevity was also part of the decision, which really boiled down to Gilbert or Bryan Woo.

On merit, Woo was the club’s best pitcher in 2025, earning an All-Star selection and finishing fifth in the American League Cy Young Award voting. He’s been two spots behind Gilbert in the Mariners’ rotation slotting throughout Spring Training, which had long hinted at the direction that the club was leaning.

“As we've watched all those guys kind of grow up, all of them have taken on different roles,” Wilson said. “And they've stayed very true to each other and how they hang with each other and do the things they do together. And, yeah, certainly Logan has continued his maturation process, as they all have.”

Wilson said early in camp that the plan for Woo early in the season would be similar to last year, when he was rolled out fourth in order to bake in more rest around the extra off-days in April. He didn’t pitch on a standard, five-day routine until May 7, then burgeoned into an innings-eater -- and more so, the staff’s stabilizer.

Woo set a franchise record with 25 straight starts to begin a season clearing at least the sixth inning, and led the team with 186 2/3, over which he compiled a 2.94 ERA (128 ERA+, where league average is 100). His goal for 2026 is to clear the coveted 200-inning threshold, a mark that Gilbert reached when leading the spot in the category in 2024 (208 2/3).

That was largely why he turned down an invitation from Team USA to pitch in the World Baseball Classic, compounded by a pectoral strain that limited his availability in the postseason.

Last year, when Gilbert was tabbed over staff veteran Luis Castillo, a three-time Opening Day starter, Wilson’s decision was largely on the previous season’s merit. This spring, he suggested that “every year has a different nuance to it.”

Regardless, Gilbert has plenty of long-term merit within the organization, and is a well-deserving choice. At this rate, he’s on a trajectory to one day be included in the club’s Hall of Fame.

“It's kind of a leadership position,” Gilbert said. “I think on the field of the type of pitcher you want to be, and you look around the league at the guys starting the first game -- those are the horses, the guys you count on. Usually around the league, they're the most consistent and most innings, or whatever it might be. That's always been important for me. So I'm just trying to live up to that.”

Like Woo, Gilbert is also seeking a fully healthy season after recovering from the Grade 2 right forearm strain that limited him to 25 starts. He returned on June 16 and finished with another fine season, making four appearances in the playoffs, including two innings of relief in that 15-inning marathon that clinched the AL Division Series vs. Detroit.

In total, Gilbert went 6-6 with a 3.44 ERA (110 ERA+), 173 strikeouts, 31 walks and a 1.03 WHIP across 131 innings in the 2025 regular season.