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    Mariners vs. Braves Friday MLB probable pitchers, odds: Seattle's Bryce Miller off to historic start, still not favored for AL Rookie of the Year

    Seattle pitcher Bryce Miller has been fantastic in his first few big-league starts
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    Boston Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida has been excellent in the early going and is the +140 favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year honors at Caesars Sportsbook, but what more does Seattle Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller have to do to at least be in the ballpark on that prop? Miller has been sensational and is currently a +1000 third favorite as he takes the mound Friday in Atlanta.

    MLB.com ranks Miller as the No. 61 prospect in the sport, but that sure seems low when looking at the early results. The 24-year-old Texas native, a fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft out of Texas A&M, is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA and microscopic 0.42 WHIP in his three starts. Those latter two numbers would lead all starting pitchers if Miller had enough innings to qualify. Miller's WHIP is the lowest in a pitcher's first three career starts in MLB history with a minimum of 15 innings. The only other Seattle pitcher with a sub-1.00 ERA in his first three starts was future two-time Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez.

    Miller allowed one run and two hits over six innings in his MLB debut on May 2 in Oakland and didn't allow a run in 13 innings with just five hits and one walk in his next two, wins against Detroit and Houston. Miller's eight total baserunners allowed in his first three career outings are the fewest since at least 1901 with a minimum 15 innings pitched, and his streak of three consecutive six-plus-inning starts with fewer than three baserunners allowed is tied for the longest such streak since 1901. San Diego's Blake Snell and Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes were the most recent to have a similar streak, both in 2021. Burnes won the NL Cy Young that year.

    Miller wasn't even a betting option at most books to win AL Rookie of the Year when the season opened because it wasn't clear when the Mariners might call him up. Miller is +7500 to win the AL Cy Young Award, better odds than the likes of Nestor Cortes, Lucas Giolito and Alek Manoah to name three, which is very unlikely because he's surely on a tight innings limit -- he only pitched a total of 162.2 innings in the minors.

    Seattle has a realistic shot at a third AL Rookie of the Year winner in the past four seasons, following outfielders Kyle Lewis in 2020 and Julio Rodriguez last year. Lewis' career has been wrecked by injury, while Rodriguez is one of the most talented players in the majors. The last franchise to have back-to-back AL ROY winners was Oakland in 2004 (Bobby Crosby) and 2005 (Huston Street).

    Needless to say, Miller has never faced the Braves – not even in the spring, as Atlanta trains in Florida and Seattle in Arizona. The Braves counter with an impressive Texas right-hander named Bryce of their own -- 23-year-old Bryce Elder, who is 3-0 with a 1.94 ERA in eight starts. Elder is not a rookie, though, as he threw 54 innings in the Show in 2022 and was 2-4 with a 3.17 ERA. He has never faced Seattle.

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    Matt SeveranceSeverance Pays

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