Navigating Mariners' Rotation Challenges: Bryce Miller's Return

Jack and Aram discuss Seattle's dilemma, highlighting Bryce Miller and Emerson Hancock's performances. They also delve into Luis Castillo's contract and role.

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What do you do when Bryce Miller comes back?

I put this on a topic list 'cause I wanted to open it up to you.

I don't know.

So- I, I, seriously, I, I, I it's a great problem.

If you told the Mariners that Emerson Hancock was gonna be this good, like, and they'd have to figure this out, great.

But Luis Castillo is I, I know, th- at the end of the day, I think them struggling a little bit now puts a little bit more urgency to where it's like we don't care as much about the emotional side of things and, maybe like, you know, just giving the vet the benefit of the doubt.

But at the end of the day, like Luis Castillo I do think has earned the right to get back on track, 'cause even in the last two years where he hasn't been the best, best, best version of himself, it's a 3.5 over 180 and 2/3 innings last year, and a 3.6 over 175 and a thirds.

I, I, y- you have to give Castillo the chance to, to get right.

So I think six-man makes the most sense, 'cause there used to be a point where it was like, oh, you can't go an extra day without getting, you know, the ball back to Wu, or you can't go an extra day without giving the ball back to, to Gilbert.

I don't really feel that way right now.

I mean, the rotation's fine.

Those guys aren't really carrying, you know, their side of things yet.

So this could be the one time where you say, "Let's go six-man."

Nobody's jumping off the page right now other than the guy that would've been the odd man out.

Can I tell you, I am still at that point where I can't go another day without giving Bryan Wu and Logan Gilbert the baseball.

Like, I, I'm just still there right now.

I need to see Bryan Wu start as often as he possibly can, and you just don't have that with a six-man rotation.

With the off day that lines up pretty much every Monday or Thursday in Major League Baseball, obviously there are stretches where you do not run into an off day, but this would effectively line up for one start a week, and for me, that's just too little for like a Bryan Wu and a Logan Gilbert, because those guys are borderline top 15 pitchers in all of Major League Baseball.

So I look at this and I say six-man might not be the answer, and I, I'll get into the Luis Castillo contract conversation here in a matter of moments.

This was going to be an easy problem if Emerson Hancock did not reinvent himself.

Emerson Hancock has been one of the revelations in Major League Baseball so far this season.

In 2026, this guy, from 24 to 26, has lowered his arm angle from 27 degrees to 12 degrees.

So he went from a low three-quarters to effectively a side arm guy, and the numbers have followed.

The success has followed.

Hancock, for the previous three seasons, a 4.8 ERA, punched out 6 hitters per 9 innings.

So far in 2026, in seven starts, had a 2.6 ERA and is punching out 10 hitters per 9 innings.

You cannot take Hancock out of the rotation.

I know Peter mentioned that on the Weekend Roundup.

So what do you do when Hancock cannot come out of the rotation?

I don't think the right answer is option Bryce Miller to Triple-A.

I, I really don't think it is.

The right answer- Especially when the rehab outings are sharp.

Sorry to cut you off.

I was gonna say, he's looked good- Yes in the r- two rehab outings so far, too.

Again, he ran it up to 99 miles an hour in his last start i- in Triple-A Tacoma.

So I look at the Luis Castillo contract structure and I'm fascinated by it, and there are a couple of things here that jump off the page to me.

Number one, Luis Castillo is owed a ton of money over the next couple of years.

24.1 this year, 24.1 in 2027, and he's got a vesting option at $25 million.

It turns into 25 for him if he throws 180 innings in 2027.

If there is a UCL injury, it's a $5 million club option.

Obviously, we're not going to factor that in because we never, you know, wanna forecast anything like that.

But another notable thing here is Luis Castillo had a full no-trade clause from 2023 through the end of last year.

That full no-trade clause is now up.

So I wonder with the pitcher injuries that are happening right now, I get that he has a 6.0 ERA.

I get that his fastball is being absolutely bludgeoned right now.

But is someone willing to take on 80 to 100% of Luis Castillo's money over the next two years when you know that Luis Castillo is still in there, and he threw a ton of innings at a mid to high 3's ERA last year?

He's a really good pitcher, to your point.

This is not a Taijuan Walker, we're saddled with this thing right now.

Yeah.

It's so much better than that.

There's a path to success, whereas Taijuan Walker, it's like if he hits every spot in, in that specific start, maybe you'll get through it, whereas with Castillo, it's like he, he's still in there to a degree, and I think you can find it.

I don't think a team's gonna take that money on unless he goes on a, a good stretch here.

Maybe there's a bad- Yeah contract swap out there, but those are always much more difficult in season.

that's why I just think you gotta give him the opportunity to throw, and if he throws better, one, it helps you, but two, also can be an opportunity there to move him.

And I know the other thing where my mind, the other place my mind immediately went, though, is like, well, then what if one of the guys in the rotation gets hurt and you move to Hancock?

Kade Anderson is killing Double-A, and I thought they'd, they'd kind of take their time with him.

He has been unhittable.

So that's a guy, too, left-hander, that you could add to that rotation, right?

An already rotation that could help them this year and could be kind of this year's Trey Savage, in a way as well.

So they've got a lot of options here and, and I just wonder if, at the end of the day, they may just have a really expensive long man, or they give him enough opportunity here in Castillo to get right.

You know, if, if he strings together eight solid starts, maybe at that point you can, you know, pivot and, and move him at the deadline and pay down some of that money.

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