Mariners' Bryce Miller decision wastes their best excuse to call up Ryan Sloan

In keeping with the Mariners' season from hell, Emerson Hancock's apparent injury on Friday night has become a reality. Now, as a result of him being placed on the 15-day Injured List with a left adductor strain, Bryce Miller is headed back to the rotation following a stint in the bullpen which didn't actually include any relief appearances. And yet, you can't help but feel the M's have missed a trick with Ryan Sloan.

As per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, Mariners manager Dan Wilson advised the media on Sunday that Miller is expected to make an immediate return to the rotation. On the one hand, we get it. Despite the demoralizing sweep in Toronto, the M's still hold out hope of making the playoffs, with the righty's experience and previous success theoretically helping with these ambitions.

However, there's a horrible sense of impending doom, centered around why Miller was moved to the bullpen in the first place. After looking excellent early on this season, he has been awful in his eight most recent starts, with a 7.19 ERA and 1.62 WHIP which contributed towards the Mariners losing each game. He also reluctantly admitted he's been dealing with a lat issue in conjunction with his last six outings -- during which he has accrued an even worse 7.92 ERA -- and we don't see how putting him back in the rotation helps anyone.

A season of two halves for Ryan Sloan

While Miller has trended downwards in recent months, Sloan's star is in the ascendancy. The 2024 second-round pick had his struggles early on this season, but he showed just enough tantalizing glimpses of his talent to keep people invested. And since mid-June, the righty has shown just why certain media analysts and scouts suggest he has an even higher ceiling than Kade Anderson:

In reference to Anderson, there was understandable talk about him having to get used to a different ball at the Major League level. However, he made the adjustment and got used to it after just one start, with every reason to believe the transition would be a similar one for Sloan. Plus, it's not as if he's totally devoid of experience with Major League balls, as per his stint with the Mariners during spring training.

On top of everything else, we would ask what there is to lose at this point, in a season where the Mariners are nine games below .500, 5.0 games off the pace in their division and an AL wild card spot. It's not as if bringing Sloan in will exactly negatively impact a rotation which is ranked 21st in team ERA since the beginning of July. Let's also not forget that 2027 PPI eligibility is no longer a concern.

As far as we're concerned, it really can't hurt to see what Sloan can do, while also providing him with some invaluable experience for down the road. Heck, even if he ends up struggling, he can always be replaced by Miller in the rotation and either moved to the bullpen or sent back down to the minors. Ultimately, there really is no compelling excuse not to give Sloan his shot.

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