Gilbert was reassigned to minor-league camp Monday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

EDGE Analysis

Gilbert only threw two official innings this spring as the team seeks to manage his workload. However, he pitched well at Double-A Arkansas in 2019 and also impressed at the alternate site last season. As a result, he's nearly major-league ready and should join the team's rotation sometime relatively early on in the campaign.

Gilbert won't pitch in any more Cactus League games this spring as the Mariners seek to manage his innings, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

EDGE Analysis

It's possible Gilbert is already one of the Mariners' top six starters, as he posted a 2.13 ERA and a 31.7 percent strikeout rate in 26 starts across three levels of the minors in 2019, topping out at Double-A. He could make his big-league debut fairly early in the season, but the Mariners have no interest in giving him credit for a year of service time, so that won't happen until late April at the earliest.

Gilbert allowed an earned run on two hits and no walks while recording four strikeouts across two innings in a Cactus League loss to the Angels on Sunday.

EDGE Analysis

The 23-year-old provided plenty of reason for optimism with his outing against an Angels lineup replete with regulars, and one of his four strikeouts on the afternoon notably came against Mike Trout. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports Gilbert featured his fastball, slider and curveball during the outing and overcame a bit of adversity by working out of a second-inning jam. "He's pretty close," manager Scott Servais said. "Certainly last year did him no favors and the fact that he wasn't able to pitch in a competitive game. ... But super, super high ceiling for this kid, and I love the way he goes about his business and what his future holds."

Gilbert won't be cracking the Mariners' Opening Day rotation but will join the team in late April, team president Kevin Mather said in a talk with the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club in early February that was posted to the club's official YouTube channel.

EDGE Analysis

Previous reports suggested that Gilbert would be given a legitimate chance to compete for a roster spot, but Mather seemed to indicate that wasn't the case. The Mariners can deny Gilbert a year of free agency if they keep him in the minors for a few weeks, and it seems as though they'll be prioritizing that over ensuring that they have their best players on the roster on Opening Day.

Gilbert will be given a legitimate chance to compete with Nick Margevicius and Justin Dunn for the No. 6 spot in the starting rotation during spring training, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

EDGE Analysis

Gilbert secured a spring training invite back in late January, and the Mariners' decision to deploy a six-man starting rotation to open the season gives him an opportunity to make the jump to the big leagues right from the start of the 2021 campaign. It's a development that arguably would have already occurred a year ago had there been a minor-league season, as the precocious right-hander breezed through three levels of affiliated ball as a first-year pro in 2019. Margevicius and Dunn naturally have the edge in big-league experience on Gilbert, but the 23-year-old had an opportunity to gain some valuable seasoning in the team's alternate training site throughout the duration of the shortened 2020 season.

Gilbert was invited to the Mariners' big-league camp Thursday, Lauren Smith of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.

EDGE Analysis

Gilbert only has 26 total professional starts to his name, but he's already knocking on the door of the majors. He recorded a 2.13 ERA and a 31.7 percent strikeout rate across three levels in his lone professional season in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic robbed him of the chance of pushing for a big-league debut with another strong campaign in the upper minors last year. Whether or not Gilbert is given a legitimate shot to win an Opening Day roster spot remains to be seen, but even if he isn't, his debut may not be far away.

Gilbert is the likeliest of the prospects currently working at the alternate training site in Tacoma to receive a promotion before the end of the season, Brent Stecker of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

EDGE Analysis

Stecker ranks Gilbert just slightly ahead of Jarred Kelenic in terms of players with a chance to get their first taste of big-league action in 2020, as he feels the the former's college experience and the greater degree of opportunity in the pitching staff works in his favor. The Mariners have recent history that would support the notion of the promising right-hander getting a late-season look, as they handled Justin Dunn in similar fashion at the end of the 2019 campaign by affording him four September starts.

Gilbert started Saturday's intrasquad game and impressed with his pitch arsenal, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Johns reports Gilbert not only flashed his mid-90s fastball during the outing, but his effective array of offspeed pitches as well. The 2018 first-round pick gave up one run over his two innings, getting tagged for an RBI double by 2019 Double-A Arkansas teammate Donovan Walton. However, he did retire the likes of veterans Dee Gordon and Daniel Vogelbach -- the latter on a strikeout -- and enjoyed his first experience pitching at T-Mobile Park, irrespective of the empty stands. "It was kind of a weird situation, but just getting in innings here at T-Mobile at the Major League stadium before you debut, you can't put a price on that. It's really valuable," Gilbert said. "It's not packed with fans, but when I got on the mound, it felt like any other game."

There is "essentially little to no chance" Gilbert reaches the majors this season, Corey Brock of The Athletic reports.

EDGE Analysis

Gilbert, one of the team's top pitching prospects, likely would have made his MLB debut in 2020 under normal circumstances. However, he has only made nine starts above High-A, so it would be pretty aggressive of the rebuilding Mariners to rush him up in this 60-game campaign. Brock reports that Seattle believes its top prospects will receive the necessary development while training at the satellite camp this summer.

Mariners CEO John Stanton said Wednesday on 710 ESPN Seattle that he expects Gilbert to be on the 30-man taxi squad this year, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Members of the taxi squad are not expected to accumulate major-league service time, so we will likely see Gilbert along with fellow Mariners top prospects Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez on the squad. This will be a way to make sure those players are staying fresh and not stagnating while also providing depth to the major-league team. Taxi squad members can work out with the team and will be eligible to be added to the major-league roster as needed. Gilbert reached Double-A last year at the age of 22 and thrived with a 2.88 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 56:15 K:BB in 50 innings at that level.