Bryce Miller is Set to Make His Major League Debut for the Seattle Mariners

IT'S HERE! Bryce Miller is set to make his Major League Debut for the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night, and I couldn't possibly be more excited. I've really been looking forward to this ever since he joined the team after the 2021 draft. He's going to be taking on the Oakland Athletics, but you can read a bit more about the Miller v Miller matchup in our Daily Lineup and Pitching Matchup article that is out today.

I just want to talk about Bryce Miller.

Bryce Miller might be, MIGHT BE, the next dominant youngster for the Mariners rotation

I understand that there will always be a slice of the Mariners fandom, and really any fandom in general, that looks at the negative instead. That something like this would be jinxing the young man. That assigning him greatness destines him for failure.

That isn't what I'm doing... not neccesarily. What I'm doing is looking for and sticking with the realistic optimism of what could be. The Mariners have been doing a great job with their Minor League pitchers, developing them well and putting them in a position to succeed. It seems like this is the deepest and most talented group we've seen for the M's.

Think about what they have. Logan Gilbert and George Kirby. Emerson Hancock, Bryan Woo, Taylor Dollard, Bryce Miller, and Prelander Berroa. There's still others who would probably proclaim they should be in the conversation. That's not even mentioning guys like Brandon Williamson and Levi Stoudt, top 100 prospects who are no longer with the team after being traded away.

That's a rotation plus some that the Mariners have been building, and all of them seem to have a legit chance at being good starters in the majors. Bryce Miller is the next man up, and he's got some good stuff to showcase. He's got Plus-Plus velo, sitting in the mid-90s and touching 98 mph with the fastball. His cutter and slider play off of each other and are both above-average pitches. The Change is average, and he even occasionally will work in a curve, even though it's slightly below average.

There is good K potential, as evidenced by the final AA start from 2022 in which he went 7 IP and struck out 14 hitters. Anytime you K that many guys, you have some big-time ability.

This isn't a trial run, either, at least from the Mariners rumors circulating. Miller won't be sent back down right away, and will get a handful of starts to see how he does. Whether that means 3-4 throughout May, filling in when the Mariners need a 5th starter, and then heading back down. Or, he could be the new 5, leaving Flexen in the bullpen with Marco as the 4.

Bryce Miller is up for the Mariners, and there is a legit chance he never goes back down.