SEATTLE -- Bryce Miller will join the Mariners this weekend in Chicago, a source told MLB.com on Thursday morning, setting the stage for a possible activation from the 15-day injured list for his next scheduled outing.
However, this reunion will more be centered on a debrief with Seattle’s coaching and athletic training staff to determine his readiness, or if he needs one more Minor League rehab start.
After throwing five scoreless innings on Wednesday at High-A Everett, Miller’s next scheduled turn would be on Tuesday, when the Mariners are in Houston, as he’s been operating on a six-day routine.
But again, it’s possible that he instead pitches one more outing in the Minors, which -- if so -- would likely be at Triple-A Tacoma. The Rainiers are at home on Tuesday against Sugar Land, with an 11:35 a.m. PT start.
Additionally, third baseman Brendan Donovan is en route to Chicago and expected to be activated for Friday’s series opener vs. the White Sox, if he reports all positives in recovering from a left groin muscle strain. Donovan was scheduled to play in two games at Double-A Arkansas, but Wednesday’s contest was rained out.
Regardless of where Miller’s next outing comes, the bigger-picture conversation about the Mariners’ rotation logjam is on their doorstep. And more so, how they handle having six healthy starters.
“I’m ready to go,” Miller told reporters, including MLB.com’s Josh Kirshenbaum. “I’m glad that I’ve been up here and I can be at the home games, but it’s not the same. Just knowing that I haven’t contributed at all yet, besides booing Cal [Raleigh] from time to time and talking to the guys. I’m ready to get back on the field and help the team put some zeroes up and string some wins together.”
The Mariners have been mulling this situation for three weeks and have mapped out exhaustive scenarios for how it all could play out.
Some of the options they’ve been pondering:
- Go to a six-man rotation?
- Move Miller to the bullpen as a piggyback option, most likely with Luis Castillo?
- Move Castillo to the ‘pen as a piggyback option for Miller?
- Move Emerson Hancock to the bullpen, given that he transitioned to relief late last year?
These are the clearest and most logical options. But again, their behind-the-scenes conversations have had upwards of a dozen possibilities.
And they each come with positives and negatives -- and the reality that not everyone is going to be happy about whatever decision they land on.
“We’ll wait and see what happens,” Miller said.
The six-man option might be the cleanest, but the Mariners already have off-days on three of the next four Thursdays, and doing so would also subtract a reliever from their bullpen. That unit is already without Nos. 2 and 3 on the leverage depth chart -- Matt Brash (right lat inflammation) and Gabe Speier (left shoulder inflammation) -- and two-time All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz is working through struggles.
Doing so would also limit the maximum possible starts for George Kirby, who’s been one of the sport’s elite workhorses, and Bryan Woo, who aside from two clunkers recently, has been outstanding.
The same could be said for Hancock, who, if he hasn’t been their best starter, has been their most consistent. He leads the team in K rate (28.9%) and ERA (2.59) and has firmly solidified a long-term stay on the roster, having emerged as the team’s best development in an up-and-down 2026.
Castillo, on paper, would be the clearest No. 6 on the depth chart based on performance (6.29 ERA in seven starts). But he’s also their most expensive player and has never pitched in relief before on a regular basis. There’s also a pride factor that could be in play, given his veteran status. Moreover, his rotationmates have long credited his even-keel demeanor as a positive, and compromising that would not be ideal.
And Miller, before suffering a right oblique strain in Spring Training, entered this season with maybe the group’s highest upside -- especially on the heels of his epic October. If they get that version of him, the Mariners will want to maximize as many starts of it as they can.
This conversation has long been expected to be delicate, and now that it’s at the forefront, it's one they’re going to finally address in the coming days.