Ryon Healy wants to rename M’s piggyback, and has a good reason

The Seattle Mariners’ piggyback strategy with their starting pitching rotation has been controversial, even though the results were strong the first three games they employed it in.

What They Said: M’s GM details everything about the new piggyback

Now that the Mariners are returning to the piggyback, but this time with all six of their starting pitchers taking turns in the piggyback rather than just the two same pitchers being paired up, Mariners TV analyst and former big league slugger Ryon Healy is going a different route semantically to describe it.

“There’s a word that I’ve been trying to patent around this, and I could really use your help,” Healy said Wednesday when he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “The piggyback has a negative connotation attached to it, and what this actually is is it’s a starter surplus.”

It’s an interesting idea. So instead of saying Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo are piggybacking on Friday against the Boston Red Sox, Healy is referring to it as their turn in the starter surplus.

Similar to Healy’s idea of a different term, he sees value in the Mariners’ six healthy starting pitchers looking at the situation in a different light this time around.

“Maybe we should all come together and do this together,” Healy said, speaking from the pitchers’ point of view, “and maybe we should all bite the bullet and be a part of this and recognize that if we continue to make this a big deal, they’re going to have to trade someone.”

While Castillo and Miller had their problems when the piggyback – or starter surplus – was first executed, they combined for a 1.67 ERA over their three games paired together while allowing the Mariners to almost completely stay away from using their bullpen. So there really wasn’t controversy in the performance of the tactic, but instead with how well it was communicated and how the pitchers involved reacted to it.

Those are both things that seem to be trending in the right direction now.

“First off, it’s only detrimental if they allow it to be,” Healy said. “And I believe it was detrimental maybe to the individuals of Castillo and Bryce Miller because of the lack of communication and just transparency with what was going to happen and what your role was for that day, especially when Castillo got pulled out before in Sacramento and then Bryce comes in.”

Healy can see the starter surplus being a positive for every pitcher in Seattle’s rotation while also not having a huge impact on their usual routine.

“What I think this cycle does for all of the pitchers, it actually gives them a blow. It gives them a breather in between, so once they do the starter surplus and they’re able to give the bullpen the full day off, they execute well, they don’t have to worry about it for the next couple weeks,” he said. “… It gives them a chance to not have to worry about that. They can just enter right back into what their normal routine is, and there’s not a consistent abrupt change into what they’re all trying to accomplish.”

Hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with Mariners TV analyst Ryon Healy in the podcast at this link or in the player below. Catch Brock and Salk live from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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