Logan Gilbert has room to grow. There’s further work to be done. But amidst the growing pains, the third career start for the Mariners' No. 4 prospect was a step forward.

The 24-year-old put together the most encouraging start of his young career in the Mariners' 4-3 win over the A's on Tuesday at the Coliseum. Across four innings, Gilbert allowed two runs, struck out four batters and didn’t surrender any walks. And more than the results, Gilbert displayed resilience.

“He’s learning,” said manager Scott Servais. “We have to be patient with him. We’ll continue to give him the ball and let him grow.”

Similar to his last start, Gilbert’s evening started perfectly. The rookie retired the side in the first, striking out Mark Canha and Ramón Laureano.

Also similar to his last start, Gilbert ran into trouble in the second. Matt Olson doubled on a low liner that left fielder Jarred Kelenic couldn’t quite catch. Jed Lowrie drove in Olson by banging a double off the left-center wall. Tony Kemp smacked a single to drive in Lowrie. Gilbert’s two-run lead was gone. All in all, Gilbert threw 32 pitches in the frame.  

That rocky inning could’ve sent Gilbert spiraling. Instead, he kept cool.

Gilbert ended his night by throwing up zeros in the third and fourth innings. The only baserunner allowed in that span came when he plunked catcher Sean Murphy with a slider.

“I thought in the third and fourth inning, he started to pitch,” Servais said. “He got the changeup in play, he landed a few more breaking balls.”

The results, as well as Gilbert’s ability to rebound, were inspiring, especially given how his last outing unfolded. Still, the breaking pitches remain a work in progress. Gilbert threw 35 combined sliders and curveballs. Of those breakers, he only generated one called strike and three whiffs.

Gilbert wasn’t missing dangerously with his breaking pitches -- most misses were low in the zone -- but they weren’t generating the results he wanted. 

He did get good results on his fastball. The heater generated 13 called strikes and whiffs, the most in a single outing thus far. But, of course, one pitch does not make a starter. The pure stuff on his slider and curveball are plenty apparent; it’s just a matter of creating consistent deception.

“This is a really talented pitcher who’s really smart,” Servais said. “I think as he moves forward with his career, he’s going to make adjustments to his secondary pitches. He’ll find a way to be more consistent with them.”

A small detail worth noting is Gilbert’s use of his changeup. Entering play, Gilbert had yet to throw the pitch. He only threw two on Tuesday, but one of them induced a weak groundout. As the season progresses, it will be worth monitoring how often and when he goes to that tertiary offering.

“The feel’s been pretty good,” Gilbert said. “I’ve been working on it a lot in the bullpen. It’s just taking it out there to the game and finding the right situations where we want to drop it in there, just continue to build confidence. As you throw it more, the confidence comes.”

As he gains more experience, it's likely that Gilbert will be able to pitch deeper into games, as well.

Through four innings, Gilbert sat at 78 pitches, and if the Mariners were in the season’s later months, he likely would’ve gone back for more. Gilbert himself said he wanted to keep going. But with this start only being his third of the year, the Mariners erred on the side of caution.

“We have such a long way to go in this season," said Servais. "For Logan, I don’t really care what anybody else says, we’re going to be very cautious. I really want him to be standing out there pitching in August and September. That’s how you learn as a young player. It’s not chasing something here at the end of May.

“So, he wanted to go back out there. He’ll get that opportunity. He will. It may come next time out, I’m not sure. Just keep it moving in the right direction. That’s the key.”

Gilbert will have a lot to chew on between now and his next outing. He admitted that he’s unaccustomed to things not going his way, but said he enjoys the challenge nonetheless. Tuesday’s start was a step in the right direction, and it provided a tease of what might be on the horizon as he continues to grow accustomed to the game at this level.

“Once he gets comfortable, watch out,” teammate J.P. Crawford said. “He’s really scary. You see his stuff; it’s electric.”