As expected, the Mariners activated pitcher Bryce Miller ahead of his start tonight in Philly. As a surprise, they also reshuffled their bullpen, moving two of the lower-leverage arms back to Tacoma and recalling Sauryn Lao.
Miller will be making his first big-league start since being placed on the IL with right elbow inflammation back in early June. That was Miller’s second trip to the IL, however, after an earlier stint there in May. That time, Miller received a cortisone injection and was down
for two weeks before trying to build back up, but a reappearance in the big leagues didn’t go well and he returned to the IL after two ineffective starts where his velo was down and his command wandering. The second time around, Miller got a PRP injection and rehabbed more slowly, progressing from bullpens to an actual rehab assignment, where he was able to build his pitch count against live hitters. Most encouragingly, as Miller went deeper into three successive rehab starts, he didn’t see any significant loss of velocity, and he was able to throw all his pitches, including his splitter, for strikes. He did show some signs of fatigue in his third rehab start in Las Vegas where he worked into the sixth inning, giving up some hard-hit balls towards the end of his outing, but Vegas is a particularly challenging environment for a pitcher due to both heat and the way the ball flies (one of the runs he gave up was on a homer that came off the bat at just 93 mph), and Miller at that point hadn’t pitched into the sixth inning since April 5.
Unfortunately for Miller, he’s coming back at a time where the team is flatlining on a dreadful road trip that’s seen them drop two straight series and then get fricasseed by Philly’s big boppers in the opening game of this series. It’s the opposite of a soft landing. In order to give Miller some backup after Logan Gilbert’s nightmare start last night forced the bullpen to cover six innings, the Mariners recalled RHP Sauryn Lao, who’s been working behind Miller in Tacoma during his rehab starts.
Lao, signed by the Dodgers in 2016 as an international free agent, got his start as a position player before converting to pitching in 2023. The Mariners picked him up on a minor-league deal this off-season and he’s been a steady contributor for Tacoma all season, working as an opener and a long reliever. Lao made his big-league debut with Seattle on April 22 against the Red Sox, appearing in a game started, funnily enough, by Bryce Miller. Lao came in to relieve Trent Thornton, who had just given up a three-run home run that put the Red Sox ahead 7-3, and gave up a run on a pair of singles, but also struck out two to end the inning. He worked one more inning in the game, facing the top of the lineup and giving up a Fenway Double (ground-rule to right field), but capping the damage there with a groundout.
Speaking of Trent Thornton, the Mariners also today moved him to the 60-day IL as he continues to rehab his surgically-repaired torn Achilles.
In order to make room for Miller and Lao, the Mariners sent RHPs Casey Legumina and Jackson Kowar back to Tacoma. Both pitchers have shown flashes of effectiveness,, and the team had been trying to them back on track with low-leverage appearances, but both recently played themselves out of even those roles with a stretch of exceedingly poor play. Kowar’s low point came in New York against the Mets, when he allowed a three-run home run in what should have been an easy-breezy win, forcing the Mariners to use a high-leverage arm to secure their lone win of the series. His hard-hit rate is over 50%; hitters are just barreling him up too hard and too often. Legumina’s low point was last night’s game, when a late Mariners comeback—sparked by their own three-run home run—failed after the Phillies retook the lead in decisive fashion against Legumina.
The Mariners now have limited options for the ‘pen should Lao struggle. Their best option might be pressing starter Emerson Hancock into a bullpen role, hoping that he’s able to hold his velocity better over shorter bursts of time. Old friends Casey Lawrence or Jhonathan Díaz could provide cromulent relief, but Lawrence would require a 40-man move, as would Collin Snider, who returned to Tacoma after clearing waivers. Right now, that spot at the back of the bullpen is wide open; someone just needs to do as Ichiro says and seize their opportunity.
