Mariners have a huge Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller piggyback problem

The Seattle Mariners are trying to get back above .500 this season, and after a Monday night win, things are looking a bit better for the team.

However, during that win, despite solid outings from both Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller, some lingering questions and a problem are developing that the Mariners need to address.

As Adam Jude of The Seattle Times shared postgame from Castillo and from Miller, both Mariners pitchers are not fully on board with the piggyback plan. This is a problem that needs to be addressed, or else frustrations could boil over this season.

Mariners have a major piggyback problem

"It's a plan that... I've never seen, this piggyback," Castillo said. "As a competitor, you want to go out there and just continue, but at the same time, we knew that was part of the plan, and you've got to respect what his decision was."

While this commentary from Castillo does show a bit of questioning over the plan, he does seem to acquiesce to this piggyback plan.

But, as Daniel Kramer of MLB.com shared on Twitter/x, Castillo's reaction to being taken out of the game after four shutout innings was clear: he was not happy with how things were shaking out.

Miller also had some thoughts on this plan: "I haven't done this in a while, really, since college, pitching out of the bullpen. I didn't really know how to navigate it, but just did the best I could."

Ideally, the Mariners would be able to use both Castillo and Miller in this piggyback role to perfection. But, in reality, it's difficult to balance how best to use both of these starters.

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George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, and Emerson Hancock aren't coming out of the rotation, so the Mariners need to figure out what to do with their fifth starter spot.

Seattle cannot continue to utilize this piggyback plan all season, as it carries too much risk, not necessarily with the on-field performance, but rather the emotions of these two pitchers being in such an uncertain and unfamiliar situation.

Whether it's trading Castillo to another team to clear up the fifth starting spot and land some help for the offense, or extra prospect capital, or moving one of these starters to a reliever role full-time, this piggyback plan should not be the long-term solution.

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