Mariners’ Bryce Miller: Makes strong rehab start against Astros affiliate

Miller threw four nearly perfect innings with six strikeouts

The trade deadline has come and gone and the Mariners opted against adding another starting pitcher at the deadline. Prices were high and options were few, and ultimately the Mariners felt that their in-house options were as good or better than what was available on the market. That assessment took an optimistic turn Friday night as Bryce Miller, who’s been on the IL since June 10, made his first rehab start with Triple-A Tacoma, turning in a strong performance in an eventual Rainiers win.

Miller first went on the IL back on May 14th with elbow inflammation after a string of ineffective starts that he ground through because the Mariners were also missing two of their rotation stalwarts in Logan Gilbert and George Kirby. He received a cortisone injection and attempted to return shortly after, but the pain didn’t improve and the Mariners shut him down again in early June for a PRP injection.

Miller has been working back slowly, progressing to throwing live batting practice to teammates on July 19th. He’s reported no pain as he’s built back up, leading to the start in Sugarland today; his first ever start at the Triple-A level. Miller, who was facing Astros rehabber Luis Garcia, went four innings, throwing 52 pitches, 42 of them for strikes. He struck out six and only allowed one hit, a ground-ball single, while walking no one.

More encouraging than the raw numbers is how Miller looked on the mound. He was able to throw almost all his pitches for strikes and outs, including his fastball, slider, splitter, and curveball; the only pitch that didn’t generate a swing or a called strike was his sweeper, which seemed to have a little too much sweep to tempt hitters. Most importantly, Miller was able to hold his velocity consistently throughout his start; he struck out his first hitter of the game on a 97.6 mph fastball, and he was still throwing 96 to his final batter of the game.

Miller’s strikeouts came on the fastball (3, one looking), the splitter (2, both swinging), and the curveball (swinging). The splitter movement was particularly encouraging:

The pitch to watch for Miller will be the slider, which he said previously was a pitch that had given him some trouble, leading to a slight grip change. Miller says he wants to throw that pitch in the upper 80s (as opposed to his slower sweeping slider), but hasn’t been able to quite get it there. He threw three in this outing; the first registered at 88 mph, but the other two were 85-86. However, all three recorded strikes, two swinging and one looking.

No word yet on when Miller’s next start will be or how long he’s projected to be with Tacoma, but this story will be updated with those details. Mariners GM Justin Hollander has said previously the goal is to get Miller up to around 85 pitches in a rehab start so that he can slot back in to Seattle’s rotation seamlessly, so if that holds true, it’s reasonable to expect at least one more outing.

Sauryn Lao came in to relieve Miller and pitched the next four innings, allowing two runs (one earned); he struck out five and walked none. Lao, who’s been used in a bulk role in Tacoma, is an interesting name to watch as a potential replacement for Trent Thornton, who often worked multi-inning stints, in case the recently-recalled Jackson Kowar can’t step into that role. The Rainiers defeated the Space Cowboys, 7-2; Harry Ford hit a two-run home run, and Leody Taveras also homered. Spencer Packard, now playing first in place of the recently traded Tyler Lockler, recorded a three-hit day.