Three-Peat: How Bryce Miller’s debut signals Seattle’s development dominance
Pitching development is king in major league baseball, and for the third year in a row Seattle has struck gold.
In an Oakland Coliseum with just a shade over 2,000 fans in attendance, the only buzz was generated by fastballs zipping past Athletics’ hitters. Ten strikeouts and one of the best pitching matchups of the season filled up an exciting finish to a 2-1 victory for Seattle.
The hero? Twenty-four-year-old fireballer Bryce Miller, a rookie making his major league debut. Miller is the club’s top pitching prospect, armed with one of the most deadly fastball/slider combinations in all minor league baseball.
His opponent was fellow 24 year old fireballer Mason Miller, who carried a no hitter through seven innings against the lifeless Mariners’ bats. The young right hander was pulled after 100 pitches, giving the Mariners a chance to scratch across enough runs to win the game late.
The story of the game however was the brilliant debut of Seattle’s Miller. He became the first player EVER to strike out 10 batters, walked none, and not get the win in his major league debut.
In an empty stadium, Miller brought electricity, firing a mix of 70 percent fastballs and three different sliders at the A’s lineup.
Miller was extremely impressive, especially with his fastball usage. He was able to use the pitch in all four quadrants of the zone, generating 11 whiffs and 31 called strikes+whiffs according to Baseball Savant.
Miller’s four-seam fastball has the number one spin rate in all of baseball, just ahead of Texas right-hander Jacob deGrom. While his fastball doesn’t yet qualify among the league leaders, if he can repeat this success with the fastball he can have plenty of impact for the Mariners this year.
This image from David Adler on Twitter shows just how impressive this heater is.
The debut wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling for Mariner fans, as Miller’s performance was the third hype-inducing May debut in the last three seasons.
On May 14, 2021, Logan Gilbert was called up to make his major league debut against the Cleveland Guardians. On May 8 of last season, George Kirby made his debut against the Tampa Bay Rays. On May 2 of 2023, Bryce Miller made his debut for the Mariners.
This is an astounding amount of pitching development for the Seattle organization in a matter of three seasons. All three players carry middle of the rotation floor, with ceilings of top of the rotation caliber pitchers.
Miller’s debut topped them all, just ahead of Kirby’s Mother’s Day masterpiece last season. The Mariners have done it again, developing a college arm into someone who should be able to contribute in a big way immediately.
While it would be unfair to expect him to produce anything close to the level that George Kirby did last season, it is absolutely reasonable for Miller to reach the output that Gilbert did in his rookie campaign.
Both pitchers utilize a heavy dose of an electric fastball that carries elite spin and extension but struggle with the consistency of their other offerings. If Seattle can get anything close to 2021 Gilbert out of Miller, the Mariners will have struck gold once again.
This Seattle development system has continually maxed out its talent, both in the minor leagues and at the big league level. They have developed starting pitchers and a top-five bullpen in each of the last three seasons.
So much credit is due to Jerry Dipoto, Justin Hollander, and everyone involved in the player development system. The best part of this all? There’s more coming.
Bryan Woo and Emerson Hancock are showing signs of high-level development in Arkansas and could debut this year. Hancock needs to develop a slider that can be the putaway pitch it was at Georgia, and Woo may have one of the highest ceilings of any prospect in the Seattle system.
The Mariners also have three first-round picks in the draft later this summer, where they will almost certainly select more arms.
Pitching is a commodity that will always be needed for sustained success. Whether your goal is to supplement your roster with pitching talent or to trade it away to address other areas of need, pitching is king.
For years the most successful organizations in baseball have prided themselves on pitching development, and Seattle may have cracked the code.