Seattle Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller had to labor through much of an injury-riddled 2025 campaign, then he found himself on the injured list again at the start of this season.
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But Miller is back on a big league mound, reaching levels with his velocity he hadn’t shown before and soaking in every bit of feeling fully healthy again.
After missing the first seven weeks of the season with a left oblique strain, the 27 year old has looked much closer to the best version of himself in a small sample this year, with just two runs allowed and 10 strikeouts over 11 innings in his first two starts.
In his return on the mound on May 13 against the Houston Astros, it didn’t take long for Miller to show signs he’s in a better spot than a year ago. He threw the fastest pitch of his career: a 99.2 mph four-seamer to Yordan Alvarez in the first inning.
Miller then one-upped himself in his second and latest start on Tuesday, touching 99.3 mph on the radar gun in the first inning of a strong outing where he went 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
On Wednesday, he discussed his increased velocity and improved health with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob.
“I’ve been throwing hard since really (when) I got spring training,” Miller said. “I think I’ve hit 99 every outing, even in my first live (pitching) after the oblique thing. So, it’s been coming out well. Arm feels good, body’s good. Put some weight on this offseason, I think that’s helped.”
Through Miller’s first two starts since returning from the IL, he’s averaged a career-high 97.1 mph on his four-seam fastball. That’s up considerably from the career-low 94.8 mph he sat at last season.
When he returned from his first IL stint last season, his four-seamer averaged just 94.2 mph in his first start. He made only more appearance before going back on the IL again for two months. In those two starts, he allowed eight runs over nine innings.
“I’ve said it a couple of times, it’s a lot more fun pitching when you’re healthy. And I think it’s obvious so far with how my stuff has been that things are a lot better when I’m healthy, and that adds to the confidence,” Miler said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s not fun when you’re struggling and when you’re dealing with stuff and then your velo is down and then it’s just everything stacks up on top of you. So, I’m definitely happy to be feeling good and having the ball come out good.”
Miller described the oblique strain that shut down his spring training and forced him to miss time early this year as something that crept up on him and progressively got worse.
“I was still throwing hard in my outing in spring training whenever it was really bothering me, but it was definitely like as soon as my front foot would hit and I’d turn and pull, it was like I was getting stabbed right on the lower part of my left side. So, definitely wasn’t fun. And then after that, I could still throw hard during the rehab. It was just it didn’t want to recover, so I would throw hard and it would take 10 days for it to feel again. It took a while, but once it kind of turned a corner two months ago now and once it disappeared, it’s been good ever since.”
Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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