Bryce Miller, Castillo Piggyback Plan Takes Shape for Tuesday
brYce miller and Luis Castillo are lined up for a piggyback plan Tuesday when the Seattle Mariners host the Chicago White Sox, and manager Dan Wilson said the club has not decided which right-hander will start. Miller and Castillo will work on different rest schedules, with Miller getting five days and Castillo getting the usual four.
Wilson Sets Tuesday Plan
Wilson laid out the move Friday and said the club is ready to use it. “That’s the approach we’re going to take and we’re ready to roll,” he said. He also pointed to the scheduling benefit, saying, “I think our guys are in a good spot in terms of getting an extra day here, and I think that’s gonna come up huge for some of these guys.”
The decision affects both pitchers after a short stretch in Houston. Miller made his season debut Wednesday night after opening the year on the injured list with a left oblique strain, then threw 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball on 81 pitches. Castillo followed Thursday in the series finale against the Astros and allowed three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out six over 5 2/3 innings.
Castillo And Miller Back In Step
The Mariners moved to a six-man rotation after Miller returned, and Emerson Hancock kept a place in the mix. Hancock had entered the season as the expected odd man out, but he has turned that into a 3-2 record, a 3.02 ERA, 56 strikeouts and 10 walks over 53 2/3 innings in nine starts. That breakout has given Seattle more options than it had when the season opened.
Castillo’s spot drew attention before his latest outing because he had struggled across seven starts from April 5 through May 9, when he posted a 7.79 ERA over 32 1/3 innings and opponents hit.329 against him. Wilson said both pitchers accepted the plan, adding, “I think they were definitely in a good spot with it and understand it,” and, “And I think these guys, as we’ve talked about, these guys in this clubhouse, all of them want to do what’s best for the team. And these guys have really taken to that and they’re ready to go.”
Mariners Rotate Through Tuesday
Wilson said the Mariners have not used this approach before, so the club will adjust as it goes. “This is something that we haven’t done before, so it’s going to be a lot of waiting and seeing and understanding and assessing and making our adjustments as we go,” he said. “But in theory, you can lay it out, and you just don’t know how it’s actually going to play out. So we have to be open to different ways to proceeding, but we’ll take a look at it when we get there.”
The practical change is simple for Seattle: one home game against Chicago now comes with two starters attached to it, and the club is choosing between Miller and Castillo for the opening assignment. For the rotation, that means the next turn is no longer a standard one-through-five order; for the bullpen, it adds a layer of planning around how long each arm can cover on Tuesday.
