Bad news, albeit with some hopeful context.
The Seattle Mariners announced Wednesday that they’ve placed RHP Bryce Miller on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, retroactive to May 12th. Correspondingly, Seattle recalled LHP Jhonathan Díaz from Triple-A Tacoma.
The move is a gutting one, but unsurprising. Despite a strong spring campaign where Miller said he felt good, he hasn’t been able to replicate that once the games started counting. Miller has been frank about his physical discomfort all season, noting he’s been generally “not feeling good” since last season, although at the time he just chalked it up to pitching a career-high 150 innings, saying he was able to manage it through medication. Miller was frustrated when speaking recently to the press about his body and how it’s impacted him this season.
“It’s been pretty consistent, like as games would go on, it would get worse and get more inflamed. It kind of bothered me in the off-season, but then in camp it felt good, so I never really said anything about it. But every week I feel like it’s just not been getting better.”
“I’ve had multiple things that have lingered since, really since last season, and I took them through the off-season and I thought that I’d be feeling good, and I haven’t. I haven’t felt like myself, body-wise, physically, and I think that’s led to me being more on my heels mentally, and it just kind of snowballed.”
Snowballing indeed, as Miller’s confluence of soreness from his legs to his back to now, evidently, his elbow, have all put him beyond the level of gritting through it. He currently has a 5.22/3.99/5.66 ERA/FIP/DRA with just 0.5 fWAR, propped up by fortuitous home run luck despite career-worst strikeout and walk rates. Poor command has been killer for Miller as much as diminished stuff, as the 26 year old righty has attempted to shoulder the load for a Mariners roster already down George Kirby and Logan Gilbert and effectively out of big league-level starters to call upon in Triple-A Tacoma.
While Miller has been able to navigate his other injuries, the elbow pain has lingered, necessitating a break from play to receive treatment.
“It was kind of at the point where it wasn’t getting any better doing what we were doing, and I don’t think that continuing to throw and continuing to push it was going to magically fix it…There’s a little bit of inflammation in the joint, and we’re just gonna get it taken care of and hopefully feel good the rest of the year.
The good news is I had an MRI and they said everything structurally looks really good. So just gotta take care of the inflammation.”
Justin Hollander noted on 710 AM this morning that Miller received a cortisone shot yesterday and that he will be shut down for just a few days to rest and recuperate. Miller is hopeful the cortisone will help flush the inflammation out so he can get back to feeling better; he talked to teammates Matt Brash and Jorge Polanco, who both told him about the healing effects of cortisone.
“Everybody I talked to said that for what’s going on, cortisone should hopefully take care of it, so we’ll go a couple days down and then get back into throwing and let it keep in. Hopefully it gives a little reset and I can come back feeling like myself and finish the season strong.”
The expectation is that Miller should be able to return at the end of the minimum 15 days, which would set him up to be back with the M’s around the start of Seattle’s home set against the Washington Nationals. By that point, it’s expected George Kirby will have been able to return to the rotation as well, and Logan Gilbert could be back at around the same juncture.
In the interim, however, things are lean. Miller’s next turn in the rotation was meant to be Friday, with the Thursday off-day blessedly offering some respite. Díaz has been starting primarily in Tacoma, and could line up for the game in San Diego against the Padres, however he last pitched on the 9th of May and could be in town more predominantly as a relief option while they scramble for a spot starter to open the weekend. The veteran lefty has been bludgeoned in the PCL, but has had his moments including a 7 IP, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K win against the Sacramento River Cats last week. Internally, the only seeming options are Díaz or RHP Blas Castano, whose groundballing ways have kept him on Seattle’s 40 man but never yet pushed the 27 year old into the majors. There’s always a possibility that Seattle could look externally for a spot start from a veteran elsewhere, but with Miller set to only miss two turns and George Kirby teetering on the precipice of return, with Logan Gilbert on his heels, the team might just muddle through as best they can, assuming Miller’s timeline is as optimistic as he paints it.
For all his optimism and generally cheerful demeanor, though, Miller is rightfully frustrated with how his season has gone, although he’s trying to look on the bright side.
“It’s been really frustrating because I feel like I’ve done everything I possibly can, arm care wise and preparation wise, and it just hasn’t improved. So yeah, it sucks going on the IL and it sucks missing starts. But the best news is that everything else looks really good, and they’re telling me it’ll feel good coming on the back end. So if I ccan take care of it now and be good through the summer and then the end of the season and then hopefully in the playoffs, that’s what I want.”