Wyatt Mills will be Important in Mariners’ Upcoming Series vs Astros

With Casey Sadler on paternity leave celebrating the birth of a child this weekend, the Mariners will be without one of their most reliable relievers heading into a crucial series with the division rival Houston Astros. Sadler, a location-oriented pitcher known for painting curveballs on the corners of the strike zone, is not easily replaced; however, young side-armer Wyatt Mills has similar tools that could end up useful in Sadler’s absence.

Wyatt Mills uses a funky delivery that can throw off hitters’ timing and uses a sinker-slider combo focused on hitting the corners of the strike zone.

Here’s a brief video of Mills painting a sinker on the outside corner to close a save for Tacoma last month:

Mills has been known among Mariners fans for being dominant in AAA ball, but struggling in the majors, so his popularity among fans is certainly not at its peak. However, he’s coming off of a scoreless two-inning, three-strikeout performance against a powerful Toronto Blue Jays lineup on August 15th, which is an encouraging sign heading into this weekend.

One outing is never enough to determine the ability of a pitcher to be successful, but Mills likely earned more trust from manager Scott Servais from that one performance than Yohan Ramirez has been able to gain recently; Ramirez allowed two runs in two innings in the same game against the Blue Jays, and surrendered two runs with only one recorded out in another recent outing against the LA Angels.

If the Mariners’ starter hasn’t able to get past the 6th inning during a game this season, the 6th and 7th innings have typically been given to off-speed specialists Joe Smith and Sadler, both of whom have been highly successful in those roles. However, with closer Paul Sewald pitching each of the last three days and Diego Castillo unimpressive in his performance in the finale against Texas, Smith will likely transition to the back end of the bullpen.

Opportunity is knocking for young Wyatt Mills to take over the 6th/7th innings for the Mariners this weekend in a crucial series; we’ll see if he answers.