Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller may not be available for the start of the season. Per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, Miller felt some soreness in his left side today and didn’t finish his bullpen session. “He’s definitely behind,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said. “It’s the type of injury where it seems wise not to push him too fast. Obviously, we won’t make any decisions until we need to.”
Miller was slowed by some left side soreness about two weeks ago. An MRI revealed some inflammation and he was given a platelet-rich plasma injection. His planned bullpen session today was part of a ramp-up that could have seen him stretched out for the start of the season. This setback appears to put that in jeopardy. He is not being fully shut down, as he will still be playing catch and doing some other activities, but the Mariners will want the soreness to clear before he fully lets it fly from a mound again.
It doesn’t seem like this is a major issue but it could be an early test of Seattle’s rotation depth. The Mariners have a strong starting group when everyone is healthy, as they have Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo and Miller. Once they have to dip into their depth, things get a bit more questionable. Divish mentions Cooper Criswell and Emerson Hancock as the two guys most likely to step up if Miller does miss some time.
Criswell’s best season to date was his 2024 showing with the Red Sox. He tossed 99 1/3 innings in a swing role, allowing 4.08 earned runs per nine. His 17.2% strikeout rate was subpar but he only walked 7.3% of opponents and induced grounders on 50.3% of balls in play. In 2025, the Sox added some arms and Criswell was mostly blocked, only making seven big league appearances. He had a decent showing in Triple-A, throwing 65 2/3 innings with a 3.70 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate, 10.1% walk rate and 49.4% ground ball rate.
Despite the passable numbers, Criswell exhausted his final option in 2025, pushing him to fringe roster status. The Sox signed him to a 2026 deal with an $800K salary, a bit above the $780K league minimum, even though he hadn’t yet qualified for arbitration. The plan seemed to be to pass him through waivers, allowing him to serve as Triple-A depth even though he’s out of options. That plan didn’t work, as the Mets claimed him off waivers in December. When the Mets nudged him off their roster, Seattle sent some cash to Queens to get him from DFA limbo.
Criswell’s number are fine but there’s a bit of risk there. His velocity doesn’t reach 90 miles per hour, making him a soft-tosser in this era. He has been able to get guys out regardless, but it’s a fine line to walk.
Hancock is a former sixth overall pick but his big league performance hasn’t lived up to that status yet. Over the past three years, he has given the M’s 162 2/3 innings with a 4.81 ERA, 15.6% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 40.1% ground ball rate.
One thing that may perhaps work in Criswell’s favor is that Hancock still has an option, so he could be sent to Triple-A to stay stretched out there. Since Criswell is out of options, he needs to either be in the rotation or the bullpen. If Criswell does end up with the rotation spot, that would help alleviate the pressure in the bullpen. Seattle’s eight projected relief arms are all out of options except for Matt Brash and Jose A. Ferrer, who are too good to be sent down.
If Hancock and Criswell are both up in the big leagues, Blas Castano would be the only optionable depth starter in the Triple-A rotation. He has just one major league appearance on his track record and posted a 5.19 ERA in Triple-A last year. The Mariners have Dane Dunning, Jhonathan Díaz, Randy Dobnak and Casey Lawrence in camp as non-roster invitees with some big league experience.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Better than the elbow troubles we’ve been waiting to hear about at least… I guess.
Giolito is rubbing his hands together like a villain as so, many arms are going down in flames
In flames? Like who?
I think you’re forgetting… Giolito was already leading the parade of arms going down in flames.
Nah, highly doubt the budget conscious Mariners just hand him 10+ million to basically keep the spot warm.
Three highlights from today’s boxscores:
Spencer Strider (ATL) – 4.0IP, 2H, 0ER, 5K, 1BB
Max Muncy (ATH) – 3-3, 1BB, 1HR, 2RBI
Kyren Paris (LAA) – 2-3, 1BB, 1RBI, 3SB
Please get better soon Miller!
The way Lawrence pitched today, cross him off the list: 8runs-3inn
Mid-season form.
I think Hancock/Criswell is the tandem they go with as the backup starters this year. Might sign another guy or two on some milb deals but I doubt they spend significant resources on somebody who’s essentially only around to keep the 5th spot warm for Miller whenever he comes back. They also have top prospects Sloan and Anderson waiting in the wings. They could be ready to go by August, following the Trey Yesavage development plan.
Yeah, kind of figure this was not going to be Miller time. Anyhow this record in spring training is really not very good nothing to get too excided about if they play any worst we will once again be more than a few innings short of the world series again maybe by a couple of inning or more. Not this again.
What were you expecting their record to be? They were missing their #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6 hitters and 2 of their top relievers. It’s actually a miracle they’ve won any games at all lol
Putting any amount of weight on spring training stats is the most moronic thing ever. Full stop. It’s glorified practice in a bunch of rookie ball stadiums. Don’t even pay attention to the results.
Teams are fielding a bunch of players ranging from A-ball kids to MLBers to random has-beens on NRI contracts, and they’re all working on various specific aspects of their game. Not to mention that there’s a world baseball classic happening right now. Almost all of the star players are in that tournament.
As Douglas Adams famously said, “Don’t panic.” If Miller has been doggedly trying to avoid surgery, I can understand that, and this injury seems not to be arm-related. Still, these are muscles that are constantly engaged, so it might be a while. “Left side soreness” sounds like an oblique, and those heal very slowly.
The season starts busy, with seven straight games. So I’d expect that Criswell and Hancock will handle duties on the 30th. Past that, they have one day off per week. Maybe they won’t need to do that more than one more time before Miller returns.
And no, Giolito is not the answer. I’d rather get Tyler Anderson, and honestly, I’d rather not.
Honestly they should roll with who they have and save whatever extra resources for midseason trades as needed. They’re in a good spot as is depth wise, and that’s before getting into the prospects who might be ready to go sooner than later. Hardly any holes on either side of the roster. Just lots of quality and depth throughout. Dare I say, this is the most complete Mariners team since the early 2000s, and that isn’t my homerism doing *all* of the talking either.
Every team is using the IR to rest pitchers, there isn’t much in the way of nullifying a “left side soreness” complaint.
Out of nowhere thought I would give this Brennen David a plug. This guy can hit,and hit with plenty of power better keep him around, if he stays healthy don’t let him get away.
I think Davis starts the year in AAA, but he definitely should be the next man up if another outfielder gets hurt or something. The pathway to playing time is murky. Multiple players are on guaranteed contracts.
This Hunter Green also has bone chips in his arm he plans to get surgery and be back by July. Wonder about Miller and his chips should have done this sooner.
This waiver wire coming up is always interesting, curious to see what leftovers there are. And if the M’s have an appetite for any of it.