Miller works around two pitch-selection hiccups in second start

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Bryce Miller's fastball was sharp, his secondary pitches were hopping and his body felt good.

But oh, those two pitches.

The righty’s second Spring Training start in the Mariners’ 8-7 win over the Royals on Wednesday in Surprise showed why the second-year Mariner will again be in the rotation in 2024. Preseason being all about practice, though, he threw two mistakes he’ll avoid when the regular season gets going March 28.

Miller’s splitter -- effective all spring -- induced a swing and a miss from Kansas City’s eight-time All-Star Salvador Pérez in the first inning. Miller strayed from his splitter on his next offering and missed, and Pérez took him deep.

“I should've thrown another splitter,” Miller lamented.

An inning later, facing Michael Massey, another pitch-selection regret.

Shaking off catcher Blake Hunt’s calls and hoping for the heater after he just threw a strong slider, the pitch clock was suddenly down to three seconds. Miller accepted whatever call came next: curveball.

Massey took the 0-1 curve deep.

“I don’t ever go slider [then] curveball,” Miller said. “Ideally, I would never throw a curveball there.”

Miller's splitters Wednesday induced three groundouts along with a heaping of foul balls over his 2 1/3 innings. It’s developing into a real weapon for him, especially against lefties, but Mariners manager Scott Servais likes the other stuff, too.

“It’s a new pitch for him, but he can’t forget who he is,” Servais said. “He has an excellent fastball, and I thought today maybe he got away from that a little too much.”

Expect Miller to jump from his 45-pitch count Wednesday to 60 in his next start.

J-Rod progressing
Julio Rodríguez was off Wednesday after going 2-for-2 with a walk, a run and an RBI Tuesday against the Padres.

With 12 Spring Training games under the team’s collective belt through Wednesday, the two-time All-Star/Silver Slugger winner has just four at-bats in two games. He opened camp nursing inflammation in his left hand.

The injury isn’t serious, but it did set J-Rod back.

While it’s a sure bet no one will be talking about a minor injury back in Spring Training when 2024 is said and done, the slugger is still coming along.

“It usually takes guys 10, 12, 15 at-bats to get in a rhythm with timing,” Servais said. “He feels good, he’s moving around really well.”

Top prospect
Being the franchise’s top-ranked prospect comes with its perks.

Or does it?

MLB Pipeline on Wednesday unveiled its Top 30 Prospect rankings for the Mariners. At the top of the list for Seattle is 20-year-old infielder Cole Young (MLB No. 37 overall).

Young’s Spring Training locker in the Peoria clubhouse is literally the very last one at an awkward, narrowing end of the room that gets squeezed into a wall opposite his locker.

“I don’t know, they just put me here,” Young smiled Wednesday. “I was looking around for my locker and I couldn’t find it, and then I looked in the corner.”

Turns out it isn’t such a bad spot to be stuck.

“Supposedly [Robinson] Canó requested this corner every year. I don’t know why,” Young said. “We have a couch right here. It’s not bad.”

In seven games this spring the 6-foot, 2022 first-round pick has five hits in 14 at-bats (.357) with a homer and five RBIs.

Another starter emerging
In his second stint with the Mariners organization, righty Levi Stoudt could make his way into the mix in 2024 as a starter.

As a Mariners third-round pick in 2019, Stoudt spent a couple years in the Seattle system before being dealt to the Reds in 2022. He appeared twice as a starter and twice as a reliever in 2023 until the Reds released him. The Mariners claimed him off waivers at the outset of Spring Training.

The 26-year-old has thrown two innings in relief this spring, with one hit allowed and two strikeouts.

“We all know that we’re probably gonna end up using more than five [starters] at some point,” Servais said. “You need six, seven and eight hopefully lined up. I do think he helps us at some point this year.”

Stoudt’s fastball is hitting 97 mph and he has a developing slider and split-finger. He’s healthy, he just needs more innings, Servais added.

“We view him more as a starter,” Servais said.