Gilbert authored a dominant performance in his latest rehab outing, allowing just two baserunners and needing only 72 pitches (43 strikes) to navigate five shutout frames. The 28-year-old fantasy ace averaged an encouraging 95.5 mph on his fastball and was able to sustain his velocity throughout his third rehab tune-up. There won’t be official confirmation from the Mariners until later this week, but Gilbert appears ready to rejoin Seattle’s rotation either this weekend or early next week.

The biggest takeaway here for fantasy managers is that Gilbert won’t be returning to Seattle’s rotation next week. There isn’t an exact date for his third rehab outing yet, but it figures to take place on Tuesday at one of the club’s minor league affiliates. The 28-year-old fantasy ace threw 60 pitches on Wednesday in his latest rehab start, and dealt with some diminished velocity over the course of that outing, which is presumably why he’s being given another tune-up before returning to Seattle.

Gilbert notched a pair of strikeouts and threw 60 pitches (38 strikes) in his second rehab outing. It’s theoretically possible the 28-year-old fantasy ace will rejoin Seattle’s rotation early next week, but we’re assuming he’ll get at least one additional tune-up outing to continue further building up his stamina and pitch count. He’s been out since late April recovering from a flexor strain in his right elbow.

It’s unclear if Gilbert will require another rehab start after Wednesday’s outing, but that decision will be made later this week. The 28-year-old fantasy ace, who has been on thwe shelf since late April, allowed one run over 1 1/3 innings last Friday in his first outing. He’s trending towards a mid-June return to Seattle’s rotation.