​The Seattle Mariners are coming off two frustrating losses that left them with a wounded series score rather than momentum. They dropped a 6-5 decision in extra innings to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday and were blanked 2-0 by the Marlins on Wednesday. Seattle now heads to the finale in Miami hoping to salvage the series, with first pitch set for 3:40 p.m. PT on Thursday at loanDepot Park. After this series wrap, the Mariners will shift their attention to a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Before facing the Rays, Seattle announced its probable pitchers for the series but also made an intriguing note about the rotation ahead of the All-Star Break. Bryce Miller will start the opener on Friday, followed by Logan Gilbert in the second game on Saturday, and Emerson Hancock in the Sunday finale. This sets the table for a possible high-octane stretch after the break, but the club is also contemplating how to best space out its rotation around the upcoming All-Star break.
Looking further ahead, Seattle will resume action on July 17 at home against the San Francisco Giants at T-Mobile Park. As the break approaches and the team returns to competition, the bullpen plans are drawing more attention. If 2025 All-Star Bryan Woo is the first pitcher out of the break, that would mean roughly ten days since his last start—the first game of the Miami series on Tuesday. In his most recent outing, Woo logged five innings, fanning five, issuing one walk, and allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits, including a home run.
Even though Woo did not start in the final four games of the first half, he could still appear in relief before the break. A report from the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish hints at this possibility. “I think it’s something that we’ll look at, especially because he’ll have such a long layoff,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “It might be advantageous for him to get out on the mound a little bit and throw. But the right situation would have to present itself. We’d have to look at it as we go, but we certainly wouldn’t rule it out at this point.”
The practical benefit of Woo pitching out of the bullpen would be to keep him rested and stretched out for the lengthy break between starts. There could also be a broader strategic impact, though, as Seattle contemplates how to maximize its pitching depth after the break. Reports have surfaced about the potential call-ups of top pitching prospects Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan to shore up the bullpen during the home stretch of the season, but the club still needs to accommodate bullpen roles for pitchers like Matt Brash or Carlos Vargas (or both) upon their return from the injured list.
In an ideal scenario for the Mariners, the pitching staff would be structured as a 13-man unit, featuring five starting pitchers and eight dependable relievers as the stretch drive begins. Based on the current roster construction, that would place emphasis on maximizing the readiness and versatility of players such as Sloan, Anderson, Brash, and potentially others, ensuring the bullpen remains balanced and capable of handling the late-inning workloads that typically determine a playoff push.