It took nearly two months, but Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller made his first appearance of 2026 for the team in a start against the Houston Astros on Wednesday at Daikin Park in Houston.

Miller's season debut didn't lead to a win for the Mariners, who fell to the Astros 4-3 in extra innings.

However, Seattle's loss had very little to do with Miller's performance.

The former Texas A&M product, who touched 99 miles per hour several times in his outing, struck out three batters, walked two (one intentionally) and allowed two earned runs on eight hits (one home run) in 5.1 innings pitched.

ESPN insider Buster Olney was complimentary on Miller's season debut in a recent episode of the Refuse to Lose Territory podcast. Olney highlighted Miller's increased velocity and secondaries, saying that the key for the fourth-year hurler is "honing" his off-speed offerings. Olney concluded his statements by saying Miller could be a legitimate weapon for the M's this summer.

Olney wasn't the only insider or analyst who had a favorable view of Miller's outing against Houston.

The publication Pitcher List, which applies grades to various starting pitchers' performances, gave Miller a "B-" for his season debut Wednesday.

The website had Miller with an "A+" grade on stuff, "B+" graded on locations and an "A-" grade on their internal PLV (Pitcher List Value) metric.

Miller utilized the entirety of his seven-pitch arsenal against Houston: a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball (sinker), splitter, cutter, sweeper, slider and curveball.

According to Pitcher List's PLV metric, four of those offerings were above average: Miller's four-seam (128 PLV), sweeper (117), sinker (115) and slider (117).

Miller was limited to just 18 starts last season due to two separate injured list stints due to right elbow inflammation. He posted a 5.68 ERA and fanned 74 hitters in 90.1 innings pitched.

Miller entered this spring completely healthy before he was set back with the oblique injury.

It's been two years since his career-best year in '24 but it wasn't that long ago where Miller had the argument as one of the best pitchers in the American League.

In 2024, the 27-year-old finished the year with a 2.94 ERA and had 171 strikeouts in 180.1 innings pitched across 31 starts. He had a 1.89 ERA and fanned 73 batters in 71.1 innings pitched in 13 starts post-All-Star Break.

Seattle plans on piggybacking Luis Castillo and Miller with each other when they're back up in the rotation. But if Miller's '26 debut is a sign of things to come, the Mariners might have to consider giving him his permanent spot back in the rotation.

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