Bryce

Miller

Miller authored his strongest performance of the season, falling just short of posting his first double-digit strikeout performance since last September 11. He generated an eye-popping 16 swinging strikes, including nine on his fastball alone, and allowed just three baserunners. The 27-year-old righty has been phenomenal since coming off the injured list last month, forging a microscopic 1.33 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and 29/5 K/BB ratio across 27 innings. He’ll try to keep the momentum going when he faces the Orioles on Thursday in his next start.

Castillo expressed some frustration with the piggyback situation following his last outing against the Athletics where he threw 68 pitches over four shutout frames. Miller has voiced similar displeasure with the situation as well. However, the bizarre arrangement has worked for the Mariners from a results standpoint with Castillo and Miller combining to limit the Athletics to just a pair of runs over nine innings their last time out. It’s possible the pair’s reluctance to pitch in relief will lead to Seattle changing their roles. It’ll be Miller opening the contest with Castillo following on Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.

It seems wrong that Miller gets the win after coming into a 7-0 game to start the fifth, but that’s just the way MLB wants it. Miller struck out four and walked none in the 83-pitch outing. If the Mariners continue with this format, Miller will start over Luis Castillo at home against the Diamondbacks on Sunday and maybe he’ll be lifted after four innings like Castillo was tonight.

Bryce Miller will work behind him in a piggyback role. It’s the reverse of what we saw the last time these two took the mound, where Miller started against the White Sox on Tuesday and Castillo followed with another miserable outing to blow his lead. Miller is the only one out of the duo that should be utilized for fantasy purposes.

Miller was lights out against the White Sox on Tuesday, holding them scoreless into the sixth. He allowed just one hit and walked one batter, tossing 50 of 72 pitches for strikes while generating 13 whiffs to strike out seven. Luis Castillo followed Miller as planned and pitched two scoreless innings before allowing two runners to reach in the ninth, eventually blowing the win for Miller and taking the loss. The 27-year-old right-hander has been excellent over his first two starts back from the injured list, giving up two runs with a 10/2 K/BB ratio over 11 frames. He’ll look to keep it going on Monday in Sacramento against the Athletics.

Miller and Castillo will work in tandem instead of Seattle shifting to a six-man rotation. It’s going to look and feel a bit different, but this type of arrangement makes the most sense for the Mariners moving forward. Miller figures to gobble up most of the innings as a traditional starter before turning things over to Castillo for a long relief outing. Wilson also mentioned possibly going to a reliever before Castillo, which is a fun wrinkle. Get the popcorn ready.

Instead of sticking with the six-man rotation, both Miller and Castillo will work multiple innings in the middle game of the three-game set against Chicago. What hasn’t been announced yet is who will start that game, and assuming the starter doesn’t go five innings, that hurler won’t be eligible for a win. The Mariners could move back to the six-man rotation in the coming days/weeks, but for now, it appears the two will be piggybacking.

In his long awaited return from an oblique strain, there was plenty to dissect from Miller’s season debut. Starting with some positives, it was encouraging to see his velocity jump up nearly three ticks compared to last season and sitting between 97 and 98 mph. It held steady around there for his whole 81-pitch outing too, which was another great sign. Also, he showed off his deep repertoire against a right-handed heavy Astros lineup. However, despite his stuff returning to form, whiffs did not follow. Miller only forced eight swings-and-misses and struggled to put hitters away. His command was solid overall, but wavered with two strikes. Still, this should be considered a huge step in the right direction and he’s scheduled to face the White Sox next week.

Miller will make his season debut on Wednesday against the Astros and then, reportedly, enter into a piggyback situation with Luis Castillo. Miller has been up to 61 pitches in his last rehab start, so he could perhaps get to 70-75 today against the Astros, which makes him tough to rely on in fantasy leagues. His future value is also clouded by his potential role. If he is the opening pitcher in a piggyback situation with Castillo, that could limit Miller’s chances of wins and crush a lot of his fantasy value.

Presumably, that would begin on May 19. It wouldn’t be surprising it if also ends on May 19. The Mariners don’t want to disrespect Castillo, but the 33-year-old only held it together last year because of his home ballpark and that still hasn’t been enough this season with his career-worst 19 percent strikeout rate and 33 percent groundball rate. He has a 6.29 ERA through seven starts. At least this arrangement is good for Emerson Hancock, who no longer has to worry about his spot. Miller still figures to be quite useful in the long run.