GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Logan Gilbert has added the most robust accessory to his assortment of conditioning devices that he totes to work every day, though this one doesn’t exactly deal with baseball.
It’s a stroller, and watching the Mariners’ 6-foot-6 right-hander gently pace it through Seattle’s facility has been one of the more wholesome sights of camp.
Gilbert and his wife, Aviles, welcomed their first child this offseason, Henry, who already sports a bushel of dark brown hair that clearly comes from his father.
“It’s everything people say it is,” Gilbert said, “but you don’t really know until you have a kid. I just remember the first time holding him, he just seemed so vulnerable. And it clicks in your head, it’s like, ‘This is your kid, your responsibility, you and your wife.’
“I’ve seen changes already, just like the way you look at life, your perspective, what matters, all that kind of stuff. It feels like a more well-rounded balance. It’s not just live and die on how my bullpen went today. That still matters, don’t get me wrong. But going home to him and my wife and having them out here, life is good.”
Henry’s birth came at perhaps the perfect time within this career stage that Gilbert finds himself, having blossomed into one of the sport’s truest workhorses but also after a season when his durability was tested.
Gilbert is coming off a 2025 that saw him go on the injured list for the first time, with a Grade 2 flexor strain in his pitching elbow that sidelined him seven weeks. At the time of the incident, when he abruptly exited an April 25 start, it looked far worse than the eventual outcome, and Gilbert was nearly brought to tears.
During the early stages of Gilbert’s recovery, one teammate joined two reporters watching him throw long toss and marveled at his progression.
“If anyone can avoid TJ,” the player said, referencing season-ending Tommy John surgery, “it’s him.”
That Gilbert returned, threw another 115 2/3 innings (including postseason) and was a massive factor in October speaks to how vital his health was in the Mariners reaching the American League Championship Series.
“When you end up on the IL, you have to figure things out again,” he said. “I was like, ‘Oh wait, I’m human, just like anybody else.’ So that's always the biggest goal for me is 32 starts, 200 innings. That's the only thing I really care about. Everything else will take care of itself. So I want to get back to that.”
With newfound “dad strength,” Gilbert has distanced himself from the injury and is off and running, and was the Mariners’ first among their Opening Day rotation to start a Cactus League game, in Monday's 3-0 loss to the Dodgers.
That alignment could hint that Gilbert is slotted for his second straight Opening Day start, as he was also Seattle’s first regular starter deployed last spring. However, Mariners manager Dan Wilson didn’t make that announcement until nearly three weeks later, and a similar timeline would be a good guestimate for ‘26.
“I think he's motivated every year,” Wilson said. “But I see something a little different in him this year. ... I think there's a different mental place and a different mindset that he's taking.”
Gilbert’s individual goals for this season are rooted in workload.
Between his MLB debut on May 13, 2021, and the injury, Gilbert logged 731 2/3 innings (seventh-most in MLB), and he led MLB in the category as an All-Star in 2024 with 208 2/3. But last year, pitching deep into games was a challenge -- partly because of the Mariners’ cautious approach with his return, but also due to elevated pitch counts early.
He only reached the seventh inning in three of his 19 post-IL starts, but he also had MLB’s second-highest K rate (32.3%) among pitchers with equivalent innings or higher. Overall, he finished with a 3.44 ERA and 110 ERA+ (league average is 100) in 25 outings.
“It’s hard, too, because strikeouts are more pitches,” Gilbert said. “The year before, I know my WHIP was really low [0.89 in 2024, 1.03 in 2025]. Maybe my efficiency was similar and I just let less people on base so I could go six or seven innings most times. I haven’t figured it all out.”
Gilbert’s goals are clear, and he’ll look to attack them with a healthy arm and mindset.