Mariners piggyback plan with Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo gets interesting update

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Mariners piggyback plan with Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo gets interesting update originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Seattle Mariners are trying to gain some momentum and re-take the AL West lead from the Athletics. After winning two of three against the A's, they're now just 0.5 game back of the division lead.

One of the reasons they've been able to play better lately is thanks to the production from the pitching staff. However, there is one glaring issue: The Mariners' piggyback plan with Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo has not been received well by the players.

Adam Jude of The Seattle Times shared an interesting update on this controversial plan, as the Mariners brass met with Castillo and Miller to discuss the plan, and helped clear the air on how things would look moving forward.

Mariners piggyback plan is not going away just yet​

Jerry Dipoto said, "While still not an ideal solution, I am confident that we were able to more clearly communicate the current situation and plan moving forward."

One of the major issues Miller took exception to with this plan was being informed about his role coming out of the bullpen only a few days before his scheduled pitching date.

For the upcoming start of this piggyback plan, the Mariners are instead going to turn to Miller as the starter and Castillo out of the bullpen.

While there's been no indication of what the plan will be after this next piggyback start, set for the series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks, it does seem like this plan isn't going away just yet.

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But, compared to the frustrations felt initially, Jude reports, "A club source with knowledge of the meetings said Castillo and Miller were both receptive and appreciated the open dialogue."

While there's still likely to be dissatisfaction over the current situation, as both Miller and Castillo surely wish to have set roles, at least for the moment, they seem to be more open to this plan in the short-term.

Seattle has a problem with the rotation, as they have too many good pitchers. It's a good problem to have, and this plan worked well against the Athletics.

However, Dan Wilson and the Mariners need to adjust things and create a more concrete plan with Castillo and Miller, as this piggyback plan likely cannot continue all season long.

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