Mariners News: Bryce Miller velo, Kade Anderson latest, George Kirby's new edge

Though they snapped a four-game losing streak with a 7-3 win over the Rangers on Saturday, the Mariners are still searching for consistency. You have to take good news however you can get it in times like these, and that includes the silver lining of Bryce Miller's Triple-A rehab start on Saturday.

Pitching for the first time since February 26 due to an oblique injury, Miller only got five outs in Tacoma's eventual 6-4 win over Sacramento. The 27-year-old allowed three runs on four hits and a walk, throwing 33 pitches in the process.

On the plus side, Miller sat at 97.1 mph and was clocked as high as 98.7 mph on his fastball. Those are huge improvements over 2025, in which he sat at 94.8 mph and threw only one pitch over 98 mph all year.

This was only the first of several upcoming rehab starts for Miller, who's on a 30-day plan effectively meant to simulate a spring training ramp-up. Assuming there are no other injuries in the interim, the Mariners might have no choice but to go to a six-man rotation when he's ready.

Kade Anderson keeps showing he might already be too good for Double-A

Meanwhile at the Double-A level, Kade Anderson made his third start of the season on Friday night. The only bad news is that he finally allowed a run, so go ahead and pour one out for his 0.00 ERA as a professional.

Despite that, the 21-year-old lefty allowed just one run over 5.0 innings against Tulsa, striking out five and allowing only three hits and a walk. He's faced a total of 53 batters and has struck out 22 of them, and his fastball has gotten as high as 96 mph.

Not to be overlooked is the extent to which last year's No. 3 overall pick has owned right-handed batters. They're just 4-for-36 against him with 20 strikeouts. We don't have exact numbers to go off of, but it seems his fastball-changeup combination is one that righty batters don't have answers for.

George Kirby's unexpected new hobby might be taking him to another level

Back the big-league level, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com has a fun story up on how George Kirby has taken up painting as a hobby that is also kinda-sorta related to work. It's a mental exercise of sorts, and one that allows for a simple mantra: “If you mess up, just keep going."

It sounds like just the thing Kirby needed to curb his "Furious George" persona, which has been known to get him in trouble. The proof is in the pudding so far this year. He has a 2.97 ERA through five starts, with his career-best 82.2 strand rate perhaps serving as evidence that he's learned to bear down when times get tough — though, to be fair, it could also just be good luck.

One thing that's for sure is that the Rangers would just as soon never face Kirby again. Following his latest strong effort against them (5.2 IP, 1 ER) on Saturday, he now has a 1.33 ERA in 12 career starts against Texas. That's a record for any pitcher with at least 10 starts against them.

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