Kirby pays tribute to Wakefield with first-pitch knuckleball

BOSTON -- George Kirby's extraordinary ability to manipulate pitch grips and add more offerings to his arsenal has been among the most impressive attributes of the third-year Mariners starter. But he utilized that skill with extra meaning in Wednesday’s game against the Red Sox, twirling what he confirmed to be knuckleball for his first pitch in the matinee at Fenway Park.

The venue was just as intentional as the pitch itself, as the knuckler represented a respectful and touching nod to the late Tim Wakefield, the Red Sox great who was most synonymous with the pitch during his 19-year playing career from 1992-2011, spending his final 17 of those seasons in Boston.

Wakefield passed away last Oct. 1 due to brain cancer. He was 57.

“He was a special player,” Kirby said after Seattle’s 3-2 loss in 10 innings. “So just being able to do it here in Boston was pretty cool.”

Kirby said that he’s been thinking of throwing a knuckleball at Fenway for 2-3 weeks, when he saw that his rotation spot would likely slot out at MLB’s oldest ballpark.

Kirby’s knuckler on Wednesday was delivered to Boston leadoff man Jarren Duran at 73.9 mph with a spin rate of just 155 RPM. It was first classified by Statcast as a splitter, but the lack of spin along with Kirby’s delivery -- a minimal leg kick and easy hurl towards the plate -- suggested that it was a knuckleball. For context, Kirby’s splitter has an average spin rate of 891 RPM.

The pitch was high-and-in to Duran for a ball, which Kirby joked wasn’t as competitive as he would’ve liked, admitting that he was experiencing extra adrenaline.

“I wish I could take that one back,” Kirby said. “I wish I had started 0-1.”

Wednesday’s tribute to Wakefield wasn’t the first time in which Kirby threw a knuckler to recognize the two-time World Series champion. He hurled one on the final day of last year’s regular season -- the day that Wakefield passed -- to Corey Seager, inducing a massive swing-and-miss to the eventual World Series MVP.

“It's hard to replicate the one I did last year,” Kirby said. “So I was just hoping it wasn't a home run on the first pitch or something; just get it over the plate.”

Kirby was born in 1998 in Rye, N.Y., a 20-mile drive from Yankee Stadium, growing up a huge fan of the Bronx Bombers. But he still clearly has respect for one of the greatest to play for the Yankees' biggest rivals.

“I loved watching him,” Kirby said. “I started throwing knuckleballs because of him. I'm a Yankees fan at heart, but just watching him do his thing all the time, it was incredible. I'm just honored to be able to do something like that.”

The Red Sox dugout also took appreciation to the gesture.

“That’s what Wake represents to this family, right?” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We're family regardless of where you play. Obviously, we like to compete against each other, but when you wear a big league uniform, from that day on, you're a big leaguer, regardless of what happens -- one day or two days. That's why I get so defensive when they say, ‘This guy stinks.’ He’s a big leaguer, you’re not. It was a great tribute and I bet he will keep doing it."

Kirby wound up surrendering one run in that first inning, after issuing a full-count walk with two outs to Masataka Yoshida on a borderline pitch low-and-in, who then came around to score after Rafael Devers doubled off the Green Monster and Kirby threw a wild pitch to Rob Refsnyder.

Boston ground him up to 87 pitches entering the sixth, then a double from Dominic Smith and RBI knock from Danny Jansen tied the game at 2-2 and ended Kirby’s day in visible frustration, snapping his streak of quality starts at nine.

Nonetheless, Kirby has been one of MLB’s best pitchers over the past two months, perhaps thrusting himself into the race for the American League Cy Young Award. Since that quality start streak began on June 9, and including Wednesday, Kirby’s 1.87 ERA trails only Tampa Bay’s Taj Bradley (1.31) and Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes (1.34) for the Majors best in this stretch.

And for the season, Kirby pulled into a tie with Garrett Crochet and Chris Sale, both All-Stars, for the lead in FanGraphs’ wins above replacement, at 4.1.