Mariners Roundtable: Fresh Faces Add Intrigue to Cactus League Action

Riley Baker (@RBake6) – Wade Miley

Pitchers and catchers reported over a week ago, and Wade Miley has been throwing bullpen sessions and participating in PFP’s as well as other exercises Mel Stottlemyre has up his sleeve. As we get deeper into spring and inch closer to opening day, it will be interesting to see how he progresses and if he looks like the pitcher we all hope for him to be.

As we all know, spring stats only mean so much. Although strikeouts are nice, all we can really look for in Miley this spring is stuff like how many quality strikes he throws and the amount of movement he is getting on his pitches. When in midseason form, Miley’s fastball will hover right around 91mph. He’s not overpowering and will rely on his secondary pitches, so it will be interesting to see how all of his pitches progress this spring and how he will project in the rotation this season.

Projecting as the number 3 starter in the rotation behind ‘Kuma, Miley should be a viable addition to a team that struggled with a lack of depth at that position last season. If he can put up 200 innings and numbers anywhere near what he did in his first few years with Arizona, then I think Seattle will be in for quite a treat. Miley will really round out this rotation and hopefully put this team over the edge and into the playoffs in 2016.

Next: Nick is confident the player he shares a last name with will live up to the hype