3 reasons Mariners fans loved April, 2 worries that still remain

#2 Mariners' Positive: Emergence of Miller

Bryce Miller. Holy crap.

The first start of the year was a struggle. Everything about the start of the year for the Mariners was essentially a struggle, so this fits in line with that. The last five starts though are showing why so many teams were trying to acquire Miller in the offseason for the Mariners.

5 GS
30.1 IP
4 ER
13 H
10 BB
33 K
.128/.205/.255 slash

That's what you expect from the top of your rotation, not from your #4. To get that just stabs opponents straight in the heart. You just know they are thinking something along the lines of "okay, we got through Castillo, Kirby, and Gilbert, so now we can take a breather as we face... oh crap, it's Miller."

Throw some more expletives in there most likely, and it's probably going through their minds.

Expect a bit of a downturn soon, as his FIP is 3.81 compared to the 2.03 ERA. He's giving up some hard hit balls when people actually make contact, sitting blue in exit velo. Players aren't chasing his pitches, but they are also whiffing a ton when they actually swing, so it's a bit of a trade off there. Still, a bit of a slowdown/downturn by Miller is still a great pitcher, and hes a massive part of their backhalf success in April.