Mariners Injury Update: Bryce Miller elbow, Ryan Bliss status, Logan Evans move

It's already been a bad spring training for injuries around MLB, particularly where hamate bones are concerned. The Seattle Mariners, however, have yet to run into any calamities and indeed seem determined to produce good news only.

Take Bryce Miller, for example. He went on the injured list multiple times in 2025 with inflammation related to a bone spur in his right elbow, yet he managed to avoid offseason surgery. And on Monday, he reported that his elbow was feeling 100-percent healthy.

Daniel Kramer of MLB.com was there to pass along the news:

There's an element of this that feels too good to be true, considering that the 27-year-old opted not to have surgery to simply remove the spur that was causing him trouble last year. Given that he would have had ample time to recover, why not have the surgery?

But then again, that's a bit of armchair-doctoring that everyone (yes, including us) did a little too much of last year. And all's well that ends well. A healthy Miller was the Mariners' best starter in the playoffs, and he was throwing gas even before he reported to Peoria.

As long as he stays healthy, Miller is one of Seattle's X-factors for the 2026 season. He's probably the team's No. 5 starter on paper, but it was as recently as 2024 that he led the pitching staff in rWAR. Not many back-end starters can claim that kind of upside.

Mariners injury updates also have good news on Ryan Bliss, plus a roster decision on Logan Evans

Also on the injury front, Kramer reported last Thursday that Ryan Bliss is a full go on both sides of the ball this spring:

Bliss certainly didn't need more bad news after what happened to him last year. He tore his biceps in early April, which was going to require four-to-five months of recovery time. Just when he was nearing his return from that injury in September, he tore his meniscus and needed season-ending surgery.

The unfortunate reality for Bliss either way is that he's gone from being the Mariners' Opening Day second baseman to more or less buried on the roster. To change that, he'll need to perform well this spring and hope that second base doesn't get claimed by Cole Young, Brendan Donovan, Colt Emerson or Leo Rivas.

Logan Evans, meanwhile, was placed on the 60-day injured list on Monday.

It was basically a formality after he had surgery to reconstruct his right UCL and also place an internal brace, for which the expected recovery time is 12 months. The move also opened up a 40-man roster spot for lefty reliever Josh Simpson, who the M's acquired from the Miami Marlins.

Without Evans in the mix, the Mariners' rotation depth is a little thin underneath the quintet of Miller, Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Luis Castillo. And as such, any injury trouble could be a big problem in 2026.