Bryan Woo’s rough afternoon against the Phillies did more than add another loss to the Mariners’ ledger. It also forced Seattle to think a step ahead, with Bryce Miller serving as a built-in safety net in case Woo’s first start back from right shoulder discomfort went sideways early.
That’s exactly how the Mariners approached Wednesday’s 6-0 defeat in Seattle. Woo, pitching for the first time since his Aug. 14 outing in Houston, was done after four innings and 76 pitches after allowing all six runs in the first two frames. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber accounted for five of those runs with homers.
“No, I felt great,” Woo said when asked whether the layoff or the shoulder had anything to do with the outing, adding: “I don’t think at all.”
Still, the club was cautious enough to keep Miller available as a contingency. He was on his normal between-starts throw day, and the Mariners figured that if Woo ran into trouble, Miller could be used in the game.
Instead, José A. Ferrer, Eduard Bazardo and Gabe Speier each handled an inning, and Carlos Vargas covered the final two.
That meant Miller’s work came after the game, when he threw his bullpen before the team’s charter flight to Toronto.
“Because it's a day where he throws on the side, it might have been something that would have worked out,” manager Dan Wilson said. “But obviously, we didn't need to do that.”
The setup was unusual but intentional. If Miller had done his bullpen before first pitch, as usual, he would have been off limits if the Mariners needed emergency coverage. The coaching staff talked it through with him beforehand.
“I said, 'OK.' I mean, I didn't really know what was going on,” Miller said.
“I figured, everything Woo told me is that he felt fine. So I think it was more of a precaution in case something happened.”
For now, Seattle is treating Wednesday as a one-off. But the bigger picture is impossible to ignore.
The Mariners are carrying six starters after Kade Anderson’s call-up, and they have 10 games over the next 10 days beginning Friday. At the same time, the club is still sorting through Miller’s struggles and has said it will consider all options.
“The results do matter, as do how guys are feeling,” general manager Justin Hollander said earlier this week. “So we'll take all that into account, and we'll make a call as we need to make a call.”
Seattle has not announced its rotation plan for this weekend’s ALCS rematch, in part because it wanted to see how Woo came out of Wednesday. If the Mariners stay on turn, Emerson Hancock would start first, followed by Anderson and then Miller. That would put each of them on six days’ rest, something the club would prefer for Anderson, who worked on that schedule in the Minors.
A change could still come Sunday.
Miller would be the most obvious candidate to move to the bullpen if Seattle decides to trim a starter. The numbers point that way: the Mariners have lost each of his past eight starts dating back to July 9, and he has a 7.19 ERA over that stretch. Hollander also said Monday that Miller had dealt with lat tightness about a month ago, though not enough to prompt an injured list move.
Woo’s status adds another layer, especially after his abbreviated return outing. Miller said the situation was framed to him as a bullpen-related precaution, with Woo’s uncertainty the key factor.
“If something happened in warmups with him, or if something happened in the first inning, and we had to cover eight or nine innings, the bullpen is not in a great spot for that. So, as far as I was told, that's what today was.”
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