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The Impressive Start of Mariners' Bryce Miller

By Brandon Willman

Seattle Mariners v Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners v Oakland Athletics / Thearon W. Henderson/GettyImages
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Bryce Miller has made two starts since being called up to the major league roster, in that span, he has been one of the best pitchers in the sport. Thus far, he has thrown 12.0 innings and tallied 15 strikeouts, giving up just one run. His performances have already tallied 0.6 WAR. He is also the first player in MLB history to tick off a couple of impressive boxes: 

While the sample size is small, Miller has a 577 ERA+, has only walked one batter, and has a WHIP under .500. But, that is not the most impressive part of the start of his career. He put up a 73.0 game score in his two starts, the 16th-highest mark of any pitcher in 2023. 

That 73.0 game score is the single-greatest start to a career from a player who started with the Mariners. The second-highest came from Doug Fister in 2009, who had a 70.0 game score to start his career. 

Another great Mariner who had a great start to his career was Félix Hernández, who had a 67.5 game score through his first two starts. When looking at their first two starts, King Félix threw an extra inning but struggled a little bit more, limiting base hits. 

IP

Hits

Runs

ER

BB

SO

Miller

12.0

4

1

1

1

15

Félix

13.0

8

2

1

2

10

When expanding the criteria to the first two starts of the season by any Mariners pitcher of any age, Miller’s first two career starts are still the fourth-highest all-time. His 73.0 sits behind Hernández in 2007 (87.5), Floyd Bannister in 1980 (74.0) and James Paxton in 2017 (73.5). 

Miller is not the only young pitcher in the current rotation, as Logan Gilbert (39.5 game score) and George Kirby (59.5) both debuted in the past two seasons, but did not pitch as well as Miller did. 

IP

Hits

Runs

ER

BB

SO

Miller

12.0

4

1

1

1

15

Kirby

10.0

7

3

1

1

8

Gilbert

6.2

9

7

7

2

7

Another impressive aspect of the start of Miller’s career has been his ‘stuff.’ Miller has shown a knack for throwing the ball hard on a near perfectly straight plane. Miller, who sits in the 97th percentile of fastball spin rate, has the most 97+ MPH pitches with 9" of drop or less, according to Codify Baseball. 

Bryce Miller has been dominant since being called up by the Mariners. He will face the Tigers, Braves, and Athletics over his next three starts, and we should see him a handful of times throughout May. He's been impressive so far, to say the least, and could be a big reason why the Mariners stay in the playoff race.

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