The hottest topic in Mariners-ville the last two weeks has been the decision by the Mariners front office to combine the starts of Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller into a “piggyback” start. Both pitchers have had their struggles so far in 2026, so the idea of letting each pitcher throw 4-5 innings at most using maximum effort seems like a pretty good solution on paper. In execution, it seems it could have been communicated a bit better to the players themselves who both expressed confusion after the first
two starts, but have now seemed to accept this method into their lives and the Mariners have gone 2-1 in these piggyback starts. Rick Rizzs has been calling it “the twirling tandem” which rolls off the tongue better.
So I hit y’all with a bunch of pitching-related questions in the FEED last week, so let’s tally them up and throw some rankings on them using my patented and very scientific Mariners Hot Take Ranking System:
FIRST QUESTION
Do you like the concept of piggybacking starting pitchers IN THEORY? (Y/N)
The Noes have it, and I’m kind of surprised since this site has historically supported advanced stats and new approaches but maybe this one was a bridge too far. Rating this take as BRASH because all takes on this subject are heaters it seems.
SECOND QUESTION
Do you like the concept of piggybacking starting pitchers IN PRACTICE (Y/N)
The Noes once again have it, but this one is less surprising given the resulting drama and speculation about this decision causing a rift in the clubhouse. We saw Castillo visibly upset in the dugout after being pulled while still pitching well with a lead and we heard Miller’s initial version of “I’m just here to help the team win” said through gritted teeth and clenched fists. So I rate this one a BEAVAN because it’s to be expected.
THIRD QUESTION
Are the results so far good enough to override player/clubhouse vibes concerns? (Y/N)
The Yeses have this one by quite a bit. RESULTS BASED ANALYSIS, OH YEAAAAHHH. Now we’re cookin’. Wins are wins, babyyyy. Since RBA is the antithesis of advanced metrics/SABR in baseball, which is the approach LL was built upon, I have to give this a CLIFF LEE for this surprising heel turn into traditional baseball analysis. They don’t ask how, they ask how many.
FOURTH QUESTION
Would you prefer a 6-pitcher rotation instead of piggybacking? (Y/N)
The Noes have this one nearly unanimously. The six-pitcher rotation is officially dead in the dirt. I give this one a BOSIO because it’s the more conventional option when a team has this many viable starters, but it clearly impacts the rhythm of every starter instead of just the “twirling tandem.”
Finally, we did a quick poll:
Given how questions one and two went, these results are not surprising. The peopLLe have spoken and in spite of the positive results through three starts, y’all do not like the piggyback approach. Once again I must slap a BRASH rating here because of the lack of willingness to accept a new idea founded on getting the best result possible from two struggling pitchers. I get it, no one wanted to see Miller and Castillo upset and even though things appear to have been smoothed over PR-wise, the initial bad feelings could certainly linger and we’d all be the last to know about it.
Finally, I’ll just add that from a fan perspective, attending Sunday’s game for the third piggyback start was very fun to witness. When Miller is dealing like he was on Sunday, he is a true thrill to watch. And then knowing that around halfway through the game we’d get to watch Castillo in closer mode? Also thrilling! So purely from the spectator perspective, I find it very entertaining.
All right, folks, thanks for chiming in with your opinions and takes in the FEED. We’ll see where the twirling tandem takes us next or perhaps there will be a new drama bomb of some sort next week. Keep tabs on the FEED for more prompts and polls like this one.
