Mariners revive – The Mariners are bringing back their piggyback pitching plan through the All-Star break—now involving all six starters. The first tandem takes the mound Friday at T-Mobile Park, with Bryce Miller starting and Luis Castillo following in relief, as the club shif
SEATTLE — The Mariners’ rotation is about to look familiar, but it won’t be the same kind of familiar anymore.
This time, the club is reviving its piggyback strategy with all six starters included. General manager Justin Hollander said on Tuesday that each member of the group will be a participant for one day through the All-Star break. meaning “roughly everyone will sacrifice an inning or two innings over the next 30 days. and it keeps everybody on normal rest.”.
The calendar matters. From now until the All-Star break—just under a full month—the Mariners’ schedule and off-days line up for three piggyback outings. The first is set for this Friday against the Red Sox at T-Mobile Park.
Based on the rest patterns. the first tandem will feature Bryce Miller to start and Luis Castillo to follow in relief. Bryan Woo will then start Thursday’s series finale against the Orioles and remain on his regular turn. leaving Logan Gilbert. Emerson Hancock. and George Kirby to cover the other two piggyback outings. The Mariners have not yet said who will go when on those remaining two days.
Hollander described it as something the team can map in advance—but also something they can adjust if the day demands it. “You have to structure it in advance to know what you’re doing,” he said. “But if someone were to get sick or something happens, like yeah, you can alternate.”
The plan, tentatively, is that each piggyback will involve one starter pitching five innings and the other throwing four innings. Hollander also suggested the Mariners could use a pivot reliever if a starter is pulled mid-inning. The overall goal isn’t to chase a new style for its own sake.
“I don’t think we’re going to revolutionize pitching in any way … but for this group that we have right now, I think it’s the right thing to do,” Hollander said. He added that the approach was discussed so thoroughly with the starters that “everybody landed on that unanimously for this group. ” and that the pitchers began to understand and embrace it during talks.
That shift comes after the Mariners used a straight six-man rotation for two turns beginning on June 1. Hollander said it wasn’t a personal swipe at that setup. It simply ran into the reality of what comes next.
“It was nothing against the six-man,” he said. “But we have just a bushel of off-days coming, so now they’re not pitching every five days or even six days. Now we’re on seven-day programs, which is too much.”
Including Monday, the Mariners have four off-days in the 28 days leading into the All-Star break. To many fans it might sound minor. In Hollander’s description, it changes everything about how a pitcher feels week to week—pushing starters toward once-per-week outings.
He argued that if the team stayed with a six-man schedule. the structure would limit pitchers’ ability to keep a normal rhythm. “Now we’re limiting their ability to stay on any kind of normal routine,” Hollander said. “We’re limiting their ability to develop a pattern from a [high-performance] perspective of like build up. express your energy and then taper down and build back up. because it’s seven days one time and it’s five days the next time. And that’s really hard on your body.”.
The Mariners had been signaling that they would reassess after the road trip ended on Sunday. While the piggyback plan was not officially locked in until a pregame meeting on Monday with all six starters, Wilson, and pitching coaches Trent Blank and Pete Woodworth, the conversation started earlier.
On Sunday in Washington, the rotation was collectively presented with two different options for how the piggyback could play out. The options were pared down from roughly 12 that Blank had initially mapped out. After that presentation. Hollander said Blank. Woodworth. and Wilson encouraged the six starters to think through the plan during the long flight home and during Monday’s off-day. then reconvene with feedback before Tuesday’s series opener against Baltimore.
Hollander framed it as a partnership, not a decree. “They are our partners in this, and we don’t want to forget that they should have a voice,” he said. If the pitchers had options that made more sense for them—or if they felt strongly—he said the organization was open to that.
He also acknowledged a gap in how he handled his own involvement in the process. “That’s 100 percent on me,” Hollander said. “There’s no reason I shouldn’t have either been there or followed up directly afterwards. I think that just making sure that the expectations are clear about what the role is and what we ask for them.”.
Mariners piggyback strategy rotation All-Star break Bryce Miller Luis Castillo Bryan Woo Logan Gilbert Emerson Hancock George Kirby T-Mobile Park Red Sox Orioles Justin Hollander