The Mariners haven’t yet committed to whether or not they’ll stick with the six-man rotation, go back to the piggyback, or move a starter either to the bullpen or the IL, but there was a glimmer of a clue during Wednesday’s 6-0 loss to the Phillies.
Sharp-eyed viewers might have noticed a quick shot of Miller walking out to the ‘pen with Muñoz late in Wednesday’s game. The explanation that was given is that the Mariners were thin on bullpen coverage, and today is Miller’s day to throw a side session,
so instead of having him throw pregame and be unavailable, they pushed his bullpen to postgame so he would be available as an emergency option if needed. That decision was made pregame, per Miller, before Woo struggled through his first two innings and wound up having a shortened outing.
“They just said that Woo is coming off injury and the bullpen’s thin,” said Miller postgame, who didn’t appear in the game but instead threw his regularly-scheduled bullpen postgame before the team departed for Toronto. “So if Woo comes out of the game early, it’d be better to throw the bullpen afterwards, and that way I’m available rather than to throw a bullpen before the game and then be for sure unavailable.”
Miller said he was initially somewhat confused by the directive, because Woo had told Miller he was feeling fine – a statement Woo doubled down on postgame after allowing six runs over four innings to the Phillies, blaming his struggles on “too much throwing, not enough pitching.”
“But I think it’s more of a precautionary thing in case something happens,” said Miller.
Woo did manage to reverse course over his next two inning, giving the team four innings and limiting the damage to the initial six runs, with five left to be covered by the bullpen. With Philly stacking lefties in their lineup, the leverage side of the Mariners bullpen – Eduard Bazardo and the two lefties, Jose Ferrer and Gabe Speier – were able to cover the next three innings without incident, and Carlos Vargas, still getting in work after missing all season with a lat injury, pitched a solid scoreless two final innings, rendering the need for Miller’s assistance moot – and delaying any widespread speculation about a potential move to the bullpen.
“If something would have happened and I would have needed to get us through today, then that’s fine. I do what I need to. I feel good today, so yeah.”
But that doesn’t mean Miller is happy about it. He does have a background in relieving in college, but notes that it’s been five or six years since he did it regularly, aside from the postseason last year.
“You always think ahead and try to figure out what’s going on. But as far as I know, as far as it’s been communicated to me, we’re just bullpen low, and the uncertainty with how Woo was going to feel was the main thing. And if something had happened in warmups with him, or if something happened in the first inning and we have to cover eight or nine innings, the bullpen’s not in a great spot for that. So I think, as far as I was told, that’s what today was.”
He also deflected a question about how his stuff might play in a bullpen role.
“The fastball is always good, so if I had a shorter outing, then that would probably be the main focus, to let it rip. But I’m not really thinking about that right now. As far as I know, I’m scheduled to start coming up.“
The Mariners have not yet announced their starters for the Toronto series.
