Whether you've read me here or listened to me on the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast, I've made my feelings on the Seattle Mariners use of "piggybacking" pretty clear.

Initially, I liked it and supported it. As we saw it implemented one week ago in a 2-1 loss against the Chicago White Sox, I liked it less and called for the Mariners to be done with it. After seeing the Mariners beat the A's 9-2 on Monday night, I still generally dislike it. Let's dive in a little deeper.

Before you think about anything else, just understand this: The Mariners plan for the duo of Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller has largely worked.

1) Both pitchers have seen their pitch counts remain solid. Miller threw 70-ish pitches against the White Sox on May 19 and threw more than 80 against the Athletics. Castillo threw in the mid-50s against Chicago and got up to 68 on Monday night. Both pitchers remain options as starters with those pitch counts. Should anyone get injured in the near future, the M's are largely covered.

2) The Mariners were in positions to win both games, and if not for a probable mishandling of the ninth inning against the White Sox, they would have. The Mariners have allowed just four runs as a team in the piggyback outings. Miller has been effective and able to hold his velocity while Castillo has been effective as well, probably in part to some shorter outings and more limited exposure against a batting order.

After what we saw, and heard, on Monday night, it's clear that no one really loves this situation.

1) Castillo didn't love being taken out after the fourth inning of a shutout outing with a 7-0 lead.

2) Miller spoke afterwards about how it wasn't real "comfortable" to pitch out of the bullpen, something he hasn't done since college.

He's probably mad that he wasn't given the same leash as Miller got in his turn to start. Miller was allowed to go 5.2 innings while Castillo only went four. There's probably some sort of a "If he can do it, why can't I" thing going on, and it's understandable why Castillo would be upset at that, especially with a 7-0 lead.

But the reality is simple: Miller is the better pitcher right now and however you slice it, he deserves more of the work. By giving Miller innings 5-9, they ensured that he was in position to get more of that work.

This is the thing that we don't know the answer to that we need to. How communicative have manager Dan Wilson and pitching coach Pete Woodworth been with both pitchers about why this is being done, what the benefits of it are and how it's going to be implemented? 

If there's one thing I've learned about professional athletes it's that they can handle the truth and they respect honesty. Have they gotten that honesty thus far? And if they haven't because the team wanted to do some "evaluations" they need to now.

If Wilson and Co. were waiting for "one start each" to see how things played out, we've hit that threshold. One of the positive reports on Wilson has been how he's handled the clubhouse over his first 1.5 years as the manager. That needs to be evident here moving forward.

Whatever the decision is, he has to be up front and honest. People might not like it, but they will respect it.

*Some people seem to think that pulling Castillo after four was fine, but that Wilson was at fault for not telling him beforehand. I disagree with that sentiment, for telling Castillo that his outing has an expiration date before it starts could just cause him to be frustrated and resentful before the outing even begins.*

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