Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - How Much Longer Can the Seattle Mariners Allow Bryce Miller to Pitch Through This?

Starting point is 00:00:00 What should the Marrars do about Bryce Miller? We'll answer that of more coming up here on the Locked On Marrars podcast. Colby, hit it. You are Locked on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Ahoy, Sailors. It is Monday, May 12, 2025.

Starting point is 00:00:25 This is Tening Azales and Colby Pat Note for the Lockdown Marys podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finance. is with Monarch Money. Use the promo code locked on MLB. That's L-O-C-K-E-O-N-MLB at MonarchMoney.com for 50% off your first year. And as always, if you want to hear from me and Colby even more and help support the show,

Starting point is 00:00:49 you can check out our Patreon. What you have to do to check that out is click the link in the description of this episode. So let's open up the mailbag like we do here every Monday and see what Mariners questions you have for us. We are going to start here with Cameron, who wants to know. what do you do with Bryce Miller? Another bad start and more quotes that he's not feeling 100%. So yeah, Miller after the game yesterday was not as descriptive as he's been when talking about what he's been dealing with in the past.

Starting point is 00:01:21 But he did say around the third and fourth inning he was dealing with something. So that's after, you know, reporting some arm fatigue, back stiffness a couple of starts ago. and this was by far the worst start statistically of any that he's had this year where he gives up what seven over five innings pitched yikes so colby with george kirby still needing at least one more rehab start still don't know exactly what the plan is with logan gilbert and how long away he is what do you do about bryce Yeah, I think first and foremost, you start by skipping his next start, which you can do because you have the off day on Thursday. And then at that point, you can kind of reassess. Bryce, if you do skip the next start, then his slot in the rotation would come up again on the road against the White Sox. At that point, you might feel comfortable, you know, giving him a shot and you would give him nine days to kind of, you know, recoup. physically and mentally and all of that and, you know, give him an opportunity for a relative

Starting point is 00:02:42 soft landing. One thing that could be in play here, too, is that you could skip his start and it is possible that George Kirby could actually be ready to return and just slot into Bryce Miller's place in the rotation. But yeah, you're kind of in a weird spot with him. If you put him on the IL, then, you know, obviously he's out a couple weeks. and that's fine. If you demote him, then he couldn't be called up in time to make his next scheduled start

Starting point is 00:03:14 because the Mariners only have one off day. So you still have to go with a Blas Castano or Jonathan Diaz, whatever, which may not be that much worse than Bryce is doing right now. So I think at the very least, you have to skip the next start. And then if you want to kind of see him again, after that, you can give him a softer landing in Chicago facing the White Sox, but I mean, I think right now anything has to be on the table, and that includes IL stents or just straight up to motion.

Starting point is 00:03:47 And again, if you do it today, then you can send him down or put him on the aisle or whatever. And you could have an extra bullpen arm for the next nine days, which is pretty nice. You can call it Blas or whatever, and you can bring up a guy who gives you some depth and some workload if you need it during that time, and then you can kind of make your decision from there. So, yeah, it's kind of a weird thing.

Starting point is 00:04:14 You have to see how George feels. When is George going to make his next start? And then because it's possible that you could just go straight from putting Bryce on the IL or demoting him or whatever, calling up the extra relief arm for nine days. And then, you know, when Bryce's turn and the rotation comes up again, George is ready to go and he takes Bryce's spot. So I think the only thing they really can't do is just continue to run him out there because at the very least you have a pitcher who is mentally hurt or he was physically hurt and now

Starting point is 00:04:51 that has kind of messed with his mechanics and now he's not feeling great mentally and it's causing other things to happen. So yeah, I think you have to strongly consider, you know, moving Bryce down or putting them on the IL or whatever, because we've reached the stage where he's really not giving you a better chance to win, sadly, than even somebody like Jonathan Diaz or Blasquezano right now. So I think they have to make a move there, unfortunately.

Starting point is 00:05:19 Yeah, because, I mean, if this is going to continue, like we've seen in three of Bryce's last four starts, where he's given up four plus and not even being able to go more than five, then how much worse off are you with just, Saurin Lau or Jonathan Diaz because at that point we're probably just talking about a loss is a loss, right? It doesn't really matter how many runs, you know, Diaz gives up compared to Miller. Miller is putting you in some bad spots right now. He's putting you at a severe disadvantage, not just in the game that he pitches either with all the stuff that he's putting on the shoulders

Starting point is 00:05:55 of the bullpen. It's impacting future games as well. So at the very least, could you you know, maybe get Jonathan Diaz to go six. Maybe he gives up six while doing it, but can he at least give you some length and not hurt your bullpen as much as Bryce is right now? Maybe I don't know. You know, I certainly understand why someone would say even, you know, Bryce at 75% is someone that they would rather roll with than Lowe or Diaz.

Starting point is 00:06:27 But I'm at the point now where I just, I see someone who clearly needs some sort of reset, whether that's physical, mental, or both. And at the very least, if you're going to lose these games in that spot on the rotation, you might as well try and do something productive. And if that's giving him a little bit of a reprieve, then do it. So we'll see what they decide here. But it's still just such a weird situation. and we've talked about this over and over again

Starting point is 00:07:00 because of how cautious the mayors have been with their pitchers, it doesn't seem like it's something that's so physically serious that he absolutely needs to go on the IL, or at least that's what they deemed. I don't think that the mares would suddenly be irresponsible with one of their pitchers, despite the situation that's at hand with Gilbert and Kirby, both being on the IL,

Starting point is 00:07:21 but clearly something needs to be done here. He needs some sort of break, and whether that's just, skipping a start or skipping multiple by putting him on the iL or demoting him they have to do something i feel yeah you know and then they've gotten to a point now where uh at most bryce's spot is going to come up one more time uh before brash is or before kirby is ready to go assuming kirby doesn't suffer any setbacks uh so yeah this is this is a good time to do it again just skip the start and then look if I have to you know start a game in in Chicago and I have to use

Starting point is 00:08:01 you know Diaz and Blaz Costano and whatever to get through six then so be it I'll just do that but yeah Bryce right now he's he's certainly not helping the team and and he's not really helping himself he's not in a position to to do that so it's a it's a bummer that we're in this situation but we are and you can't pretend that it's not happening All right, we will answer more of your questions here in just a moment, but first reminder, this episode of the Lockdown, Aaron's podcast is brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping, and entertainment, it's easy to lose track.

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Starting point is 00:09:38 Be sure to join Chris Crawford and Anders Hurst for the first ever Mariner's postcast live right here on the Lockdown Marrars YouTube channel. You can also listen to it shortly after it airs on all podcast platforms via the Locked-on Mariners podcast feed. All right. Let's get back into your questions here on Mailbag Monday. Kyle wants to know concern level with the starting pitching, primarily Wu, Miller, and Castillo. Woo, pretty much zero. Castillo, you know, it's interesting. Luis is, like, getting bashed pretty severely on socials and whatnot.

Starting point is 00:10:19 And I'm not telling you he's been great, but he's a sub four ERA pitcher right now. and the FIP and the X-FIP say he's like a low 4 ERA pitcher. Yeah, I mean, he's just, he's been a number five, unfortunately, and maybe a low-in four. But yeah, I think the thing with Castillo, though, is that if he threw more sliders, I actually think he'd be fine because the fastball is his primary, the four-seamer, and it's just not as good as it was last year.

Starting point is 00:10:49 The VLO still hasn't ticked up quite yet. The command of it's not quite there yet where it needs to be. Luis is a guy with the track record that you trust. And, you know, prior to his start on Friday, he was running like a 360 RA and he was on pace to be a two and a half three-win pitcher again. So like, yeah, he had a bad start. And, you know, obviously he's not off to the same start. He wasn't early April. But I'm not overly concerned about that.

Starting point is 00:11:18 I still feel like the floor is really high with Louise. So I don't know, probably I don't know what scale we're using here. but probably like a two or three on Castillo right now out of ten. And then Bryce, you know, I'm at a six or a seven right now because we're just not really sure what it is. I mean, if it was, you know, just back spasms that he can't get through, well, you just put him on the IL and you deal with it. But it feels like it's more of a mental thing. And then there's also kind of like an adjoining, you know, mystery ailment every single. single game that might be related to the mental problem he's having right now.

Starting point is 00:11:58 So yeah, I think I'm, I am significantly more concerned about Bryce than I am even Castillo. And then Wu, I'm not really concerned at all. Brian Wu is really good. Yeah, Wu, I mean, it's just the game plan for opposing hitters is the game plan. And sometimes you're going to execute it. And most of the time they're not, right? He's going to get ambush. And that's going to work against hitters most of the time.

Starting point is 00:12:23 sometimes they'll actually, you know, connect, right? So, yeah, not really concerned on Wu, even after the, you know, the rough start down in Sacramento. It's going to happen here and there for him. Castillo, yeah, I think really, I'm not necessarily concerned about Castillo. I'm just ready to accept that the floor and the ceiling has changed for him. And so expectations should be shifted from start to start with him. Um, so I'm, I'm pretty low as well.

Starting point is 00:12:55 I'm a bit higher than you, like if we're doing a scale here on, on Miller, I'd probably say like out of 10, I'm more of like an eight or a nine just because we have no idea what's going on. And because of that, I have no idea how you fix it. And if it can get better or when it can get better, all that. Right. So, um, but yeah, overall, yeah, not really concerned about Wu. uh, Castillo pretty pretty low. And then Miller is very, very concerning right now. Yeah, Cassio was just going six.

Starting point is 00:13:22 every time out instead of the last couple times it's been mostly five yeah it wouldn't be all that noticeable maybe the bat brash fan wants to know who do you think comes up to the big leagues first Cole Young or Tyler Locklear yeah young's on a bit of a heater right now Locklear has been a popular guy

Starting point is 00:13:44 for fans to call to be called up but yeah there's some concerning trends in Locklears, you know, in his profile right now, he is expanding the zone a lot. He's swinging missing quite a bit. It's his second try at AAA, and the numbers aren't as good as they were last year, and he was playing with kind of an iffy wrist last year, and the numbers, well, they're still

Starting point is 00:14:13 fine. They're not quite as good as they were last year. And then I think a big part of that is the expanding of the zone that he's going through right now. I think the issue with both of these guys being called up anytime soon is that, you know, where and how much playing time are they going to get? You're not going to call a guy up a young guy like that to be a platoon guy. And so at second base right now, you look at young. Is he better than Revis and Mastroboni and Dylan Moore?

Starting point is 00:14:42 I don't know, maybe, but it's not a for sure thing. And, you know, young right now, do you want him coming up and playing? two or three times a week and then sitting right when he's starting to figure things out, I doubt it. So I don't think either one of them makes a ton of sense right now. I actually don't think there are a lot of or even more than

Starting point is 00:15:03 one or two, like obvious roster moves for the Mariners to make. Their depth is stretched about as far as it can go already. So as far as which one do we see first? I mean, probably still Locklear because they could

Starting point is 00:15:19 DFA Solano and if they don't think that Locklear is a long-term asset anyways, they might be okay with him being a, you know, two-time-a-week player. So I'd say probably him in terms of like who do I think is actually more equipped to handle major league pitching right now, I'd probably still say Cole Young because he's still making really quality contact. He's not swinging. He's not striking out.

Starting point is 00:15:43 He's doing a lot of the little things that the overall numbers don't quite mesh with right now. And he has found power and he's elevating the base. baseball over the last week or so. So, yeah, I would say Locklear is most likely to be called up, like, in the next week or two. But I think Young is actually, you know, better shot to hit at the big league level. I just guys who whiff and they expand the zone as much as Locklear is doing in AAA right now, who aren't even, like, dominating the PCL, that's pretty big red flag for me. Yeah, that usually doesn't diminish once you get to the big league level.

Starting point is 00:16:19 So at the very least, we're young, while he's still only rocking a 93 WRC plus down in Tacoma, he is hitting the ball hard with regularity. And he's only striking out 14.2% of the time walking 11.2% of the time he's controlling the zone more than Locklear is. Yeah, I mean, like you said, Locklear could really get called up at any time, depending on what they want to do. We do have a question here about Donovan Solano coming up a little later on. into that a bit more than when we get to that question. But yeah, it's possible that they might just call them up whenever. So I'll go with Locklear here, but Young's getting closer. And maybe there gets to a point if Williamson's bat continues to go on the decline here.

Starting point is 00:17:10 Maybe they go, you know what? Let's move Demo over to third. And let's call up Cole Young, play some second. See what that looks like. All right. Taylor wants to know. Oh, there it is. Okay, I thought it was later on in the show, but here it is.

Starting point is 00:17:24 Taylor wants to know, how do we get Solano off the roster if we want Locklear to keep cooking in Tacoma? Is it as simple as getting Polo slash Moore some first base starts? Who takes Donny's spot on the roster? If it's not Locklear, Colby, who would it be? Is there an actual option? Well, I mean, that's the thing is if you're going to get Solano off the roster, it's not just like, okay, who plays first base against lefties? it's who takes his spot.

Starting point is 00:17:52 And I think when you start looking at the options, we just talked about why Locklear, not a no-brainer here in this situation. Cole Young, kind of the same thing. Like, it doesn't really make sense to call him up and sit him. And I don't think the Mariners view, Dylan Moore and Leo Rivas is the problem. In fact, they would probably sit young against lefties right now

Starting point is 00:18:17 because they want Leo Rivas to be the second baseman. and Dylan Moore probably could play first in that situation. I think that makes some sense. He's done it before. And you have Tavares, who's a switch hitter, so you don't necessarily need Demo to play the outfield against every lefty. So that could be the role. Then maybe you're looking for a Demo call up,

Starting point is 00:18:35 but that shouldn't be young because, again, young should be playing every day somewhere. And right now, Triplates the best spot. And, you know, even somebody like Harry Ford doesn't make a ton of sense because, you know, he's starting to hit finally. and he's actually seeing his power numbers go up. He's been very good over the last, you know, 10 days or so. And again, you have to be careful about not calling up guys just to, you know,

Starting point is 00:18:59 call them up because they're new and exciting. And so does Solano give, I mean, does like a Samoa Taylor give you more of a shot than Donovan Solano? Maybe. But, again, the roster depth is stretched just about as thin as it can get already. And so, you know, I think if you're looking to replace the Solano, a role because Leo Rivas is up and he's, you know, performing right now.

Starting point is 00:19:24 I think that would just be Dylan Moore. And then Rebos would kind of slide into the Dylan Moore role. You know, Dylan's playing a lot against Ritey's too, though. But against lefties, Dylan and Revis can handle that. But then what do you do with that bench spot? I guess Taylor could give you more value there. But, you know, again, you're not looking at a ton of great options here. The Mariners really don't have a super obvious.

Starting point is 00:19:48 a solution anywhere in the minors. And, you know, again, if you're not going to call up Locklear and you're not going to call up Ford and Young, if you're not going to call them up to play a ton, much more than Solano is right now. Just doesn't make a lot of sense. So I think the only way you would do it is you DFA Solano. Dylan Moore essentially becomes the platoon partner with Rowdy Tellez. And then you would call up like a Samad Taylor to give you some athleticism off the bench.

Starting point is 00:20:18 I think it's the way you would do it. I think that you're also not, I don't think you're super worried about getting some odd Taylor at bat. So I think you'd be fine if he, you know, only got like one start a week. I think you'd be fine with that. All right. We are going to get into a few more of your questions in just a moment.

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Starting point is 00:21:34 And you're listening to the Locked-on Marrars podcast. It is Mailbag Monday. Let's get back to your questions. Ryan wants to know. I want to hear your thoughts on the draft and who you think will go in the top five. What are the pros of drafting a starter or a position player? Now, I don't want to put too much stock into, you know, positions and position depth and, you know, and in your farm system and what have you. But if you draft a guy like Arquette who could very well factor into the 2026 roster conversation at the big league level for you and he may very well play up the middle or at the very least play some third base for you.

Starting point is 00:22:10 Maybe at that point you feel a little more comfortable trading Cole Young or Colt Emerson or someone like that at the deadline. Now, as far as Emerson goes, I don't think there's going to be a player out there that should realistically command Cole Emerson. Like, Kyle Tucker's not going to get traded. Vladdy just signed his extension. So I don't really force unless, you know, Ronald Acuna Jr. suddenly hits the market. The Braves are actually willing to move on from him. I don't think there's going to be someone out there that you would even consider trading Cole Emerson for. But again, maybe the presence of Arquette and your farm system allows you to feel more comfortable in trading one of those guys, right?

Starting point is 00:22:56 Yeah, it's certainly possible. Also, though, if you select Arnold or Doyle, they're probably going to be in the big leagues next year at some point as well. And at that point, you might feel comfortable this winter trading a Logan Gilbert or a George Kirby or maybe even a Miller or woo. And you feel like, yeah, I mean, we have that replacement right here. And then you probably have Sanja probably about a year behind. So yeah, there are some, you know, big league 2026 factors being played in here because you look at the top of this draft, the college guys who are being, you know, listed at near the top of the draft, the Arquettes, the Doyles, the Arnold's, they're all on an accelerated path.

Starting point is 00:23:45 Like, they, I'd be surprised if they weren't all in the big leagues by, assuming health, by, you know, a year, a calendar year after they're drafted. I would think they'd all be in the big leagues by then. So, yeah, and that's something Keith Law did mention as well, that, like, hey, the Mariners are kind of like in a win now mode type of thing. So they might be valuing the college player who can help them sooner, more than the high upside shot that they could take on the prep arm. So, yeah, it's certainly possible, but the Mariners do kind of have a gap in the

Starting point is 00:24:18 pitching. We're seeing it right now, the wave of starters to come up after the big four that they developed. So, yeah, I think there's merit to both sides and both of them either taking the, if you're going to go college and you take one of these guys that we think will be there, then I think either way, that could impact how you approach the trade. of, you know, either a prospect in your system or potentially a major league rotation arm this winter. So there are some avenues that open up depending on who you select at number three.

Starting point is 00:24:54 Yeah. And so it's going to impact the trade deadline discourse, at least to a certain degree, no matter who you take. Because at number three, you might be adding a new number one prospect, someone that's probably going to slot in the, you know, top 15 to top 30 most prospect rankings across the circuit. And then you're probably adding another guy at pick 35 who's going to be somewhere in the 5 to 8ish range in your prospect rankings, your team prospect rankings as well. We're talking about a farm system that has nine guys currently in the pipeline's top 100.

Starting point is 00:25:34 This is one of the best farm system. in the entire game, how many good prospects do you need? Right? So it should make you more willing to not necessarily get reckless. That's probably the wrong word to use here with your prospects at the deadline. But it should allow you to feel more comfortable in getting aggressive at the deadline with your prospects. Because you just,

Starting point is 00:26:02 you have so many good prospects at that point. right and a lot of these guys as we know they're not going to hit no matter how well you develop all right last question of the day from mike uh between hulio and cal who do you think could win the al MVP first willio with a bullet julio as good as good as cal is cal cal is probably gonna max out of like a six or seven win season as his best year and as long as erin judge and Bobby Witt Jr. are present in the American League, you're going to need to put together a 9, 10 win season to win MVP. Julio is far more capable of doing that.

Starting point is 00:26:46 Not saying he will, but he's far more capable of doing that. Yeah, I mean, there's also just kind of the gravitas and the hype that you can generate. And, you know, as great as Cal is, half the league can't even say his last name right. So. Cal Rayleigh. Yeah. or rally. It's one of those things where it's like,

Starting point is 00:27:09 Cal is still, I think, underrated and underappreciated across baseball, even though most people have come around to the idea that like he's the best catcher in baseball. But there is kind of a limit there. There's a lot of, not a lot of catchers win the MVP award. Not as many of them put up as many off,

Starting point is 00:27:28 you know, as many good offensive numbers as Cal does, which does give him a chance. But Cal to me feels like a guy who's just going to, you know, finish in the top 10 a couple times, but never really get that close. Julio, I could absolutely see winning it because Julio can do the flashy thing, like win a gold glove and go 40, 40. Whereas, you know, Cal is probably going to have to hit 40 home runs to even be in the top 10 discussion at the end of the year. And he's a catcher.

Starting point is 00:27:55 And that's a lot of wear and tear. So to expect him to hit 40 and, you know, he's going to have to hit for a decent average too. they're not going to give the MVP award to a guy hitting 220, you know, unfortunately, even if they deserve it. So yeah. And I mean, the last, the last three catchers to win MVP and their respective leagues, Buster Posey in 2012, Joe Maurer in 2009 and Pudge Rodriguez and 99. Like, it just doesn't really happen. All right. That's going to do it for our show.

Starting point is 00:28:27 Thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown era's podcast for Colby Pat node. I'm Tiding Gazzalas. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L0 underscore Marrars. You can follow me at Tadigas and Colby at C-Pat-11. That's C-P-A-T-1-1. We're also on Blue Sky. You can follow me at TDG, Colby at MLB-Colby, and the show at Lockdown Merrars. You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok at Lockdown Merrers. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day, and we'll see you next time. Peace.

Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - How Much Longer Can the Seattle Mariners Allow Bryce Miller to Pitch Through This?

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