PEORIA, Ariz. — As a small group of reporters crowded around Bryce Miller to hear his thoughts on his return to the mound, albeit just a light bullpen session, Mariners general manager Justin Hollander walked past the scrum and announced, “He’s fine!”
It wasn’t a statement of hope, but a declaration after watching Miller throw 20 pitches in a lower intensity, “touch and feel” bullpen.
“I felt good,” Miller said. “Everything felt good.”
Miller did a normal buildup to his bullpen, including long toss, and then pitched to catcher Nick Raposo at about an 80% intensity level, which was 90-94 mph with his fastball. He also threw his multitude of off-speed pitches.
“I want to obviously throw more and it be like a normal bullpen where I throw harder and get after it,” he said. “But we are just trying to limit the build on it and put a little governor on it.”
Miller’s next step will be to throw a normal midweek bullpen of 25-30 pitches with a higher intent level. He could move back into Cactus League games after that session or throw a simulated game and then return to games.
He is going to be methodical. He’s talked to other players and learned that minor oblique issues can be major if you don’t get proper rest and recovery.
“Everything I’ve heard from everybody else about this oblique stuff, they always say, just try your best to make sure it’s fully gone before you try to ramp up. You don’t want it to linger. And I think they are notorious for lingering. I’m just trying to be smart with the initial buildup.”
Opening day starter?
Dan Wilson knew the question was coming, just not when. On Sunday morning, he was asked if he’s ready to name an opening day starting pitcher.
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“It’s a little early yet,” Wilson said. “We are still evaluating in some ways, but we’re always open to see what happens as we go. We still have two-plus weeks left, and so we’ll just, again, assess as we go.”
Logan Gilbert got the honor last season. He seems like a logical candidate again. Based on the Mariners having their starters pitch every sixth day, it sets up for him to be the opening day starter.
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