Mariners’ Bryce Miller enjoys return to Everett

Published 3:11 pm Saturday, April 25, 2026

EVERETT — The last time Bryce Miller took the mound at Everett Memorial Stadium in July 2022, he was simply a former fourth-round pick trying to work his way up the Seattle Mariners’ organizational ladder. A lot had changed by the time he returned to the Everett AquaSox for a rehab assignment on Friday.

The 27-year-old pitcher has since developed into a regular starter for one of the strongest rotations in Major League Baseball. Miller started two games — both Seattle wins — in the 2025 ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays, which the Mariners narrowly lost in seven games. He is an entirely new pitcher than he was four years ago.

What’s different after all of this time? Well, for starters, the weather.

“It’s not as cold as it was when I was here last, so that’s good. … But no, it was fun. Good to be back,” Miller said after his outing. “It’s a unique field and it’s fun to pitch here, for sure.”

Of course, the reason for his return to Everett is not ideal, as Miller is working back from a left oblique strain that sent him to the injured list right before Opening Day in late March, but the low-key reply matched the energy of the three innings that Miller breezed through in 47 pitches on Friday.

Perfect through two, Miller allowed just one hit and one walk in the third inning before striking out his sixth Spokane Indians batter of the night. The AquaSox would end up winning 2-1 on Axel Sanchez’s walk-off sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, but Miller already felt like he won when he stepped off the mound the final time.

After allowing four hits and three earned runs across 1 1/3 innings in his season-debut with Triple-A Tacoma on April 18, Miller finally had the positive results to go with his physical progress.

“I really felt good,” Miller said. “I kind of wanted to approach it a little different than last week. I knew I had three innings today, so I tried to go more heaters early, mix in the second, and then more off speed-focused in the third. Everything felt good, located everything well.”

Of his 47 pitches, 35 were strikes. He threw 98 miles per hour on each of his first four pitches, staying true to bringing the heat early, before dropping down to 84 to strike out his first batter, Spokane shortstop Tevin Tucker. He needed just two pitches at 97 to retire first baseman Kevin Fitzer on a groundout, and outfielder Jacob Humphrey fouled off six straight pitches before flying out to center field.

He struck out the first two batters of the second inning, his velocity peaking around 95-96 while mixing in a little more off speed, before outfielder Max Belyeu broke his bat on an infield pop up. He started the third with another strikeout while throwing between 80-84 on every pitch before mixing in a little more speed at the end, striking out Fitzer to end his night after a single from catcher Alan Espinal, a walk from Tucker and a passed ball to advance both runners left men on second and third.

On top of feeling good physically and getting strong reps with all of his pitches, Miller succeeded in helping the Everett pitching staff in an organization-wide competition.

“Before the game, (AquaSox pitching coach) Bryan Pall told me that Everett’s neck-and-neck with Seattle on the ‘0-0 (count)’ strike percentage for the season,” Miller said. “So I told him I’d do what I can to try to push them forward.”

Of the 11 batters Miller faced, he got ahead 0-1 against nine of them. Mission accomplished. Although according to Pall, it wasn’t that serious.

“I would phrase it more as a friendly competition,” Pall said. “We’re pushing these guys to become the best version of themselves, and we want them to be big-leaguers, and what’s the best way to compare it to the best? We have the ‘best-in-the-big-league’ staff, so we’re chasing them and it’s great competition. It’s healthy for our guys to see that and compete at that level.”

On Friday, the AquaSox pitchers got to see it up close. Practically the entire staff circled behind the bullpen mound as Miller warmed up for his start. Once Miller completed his three innings, Colton Shaw took over for the remaining six. The 22-year-old righty allowed just four hits and notched seven strikeouts to earn the win.

“It’s definitely cool when he gets to come out and throw,” Shaw said. “So I was happy to piggy-back him and get the win. … He was doing his thing, I was doing my thing. We were getting it done.”

Miller’s stint with the AquaSox only lasted a day, but according to Pall, he treated the experience like he was any other member of the team.

“He was just being himself, and ‘himself’ is more than good enough,” Pall said. “We appreciate him coming in and taking the time. He just fit in right with the guys. He had a locker right next to everybody else, and I saw him sitting around the table with everybody else, and it was fun to see.”

For Miller, fitting in was easy. After all, he was in the exact same spot as the other Everett pitchers just four years ago. Thinking back to that time, he eventually thought of more differences than the weather.

“My only goal every start was to try to hit 100, so I’d usually burn out pretty quick in the beginning,” Miller said with a chuckle. “I got a few more pitches (now). I got a lot more ways to attack hitters. I’m a little more, I guess, mature as a pitcher on the mound. Back then, it was just, ‘We’re gonna throw as many heaters as I can, as hard as I can, and see if they hit it.’”

Following his walk down memory lane, Miller will turn his attention to his next outing, which he confirmed to be a 60-pitch/four-inning start in Tacoma next week. He said his oblique is 100%, but he’s just working on building the stamina for a full starter’s workload.

If all goes to plan, he’ll be back at T-Mobile Park in a few weeks.

“This is basically like Week 2 of spring training for me,” Miller said. “So Week 3 next week, and then Week 4, and then see where we’re at and try to get as built up as I can within the 30 days that I have on rehab.”