PEORIA, Ariz. -- A case could be made that Bryan Woo was among the most fascinating starting pitchers in baseball last season.
His elite production when healthy and at his best, the diligent behind-the-scenes work that the Mariners navigated to ensure he was able to move past his injury history and the significant climb in workload made his storyline, at least in Seattle, one of the most intriguing to follow.
And as he embarks on year three in The Show, Woo and the Mariners believe that there are even more heights to reach.
¡°I think I have a better idea of what I want to do,¡± Woo said. ¡°But you're always learning.¡±
Woo made his fourth Cactus League start on Tuesday, clearing five innings for the first time and retiring 12 of his final 13 batters after working through an early jam that included a three-run homer in the first inning. His velocity was down a tick, by 1.3 mph on his four-seam fastball and 1.9 mph on his sinker, but it was nothing that he¡¯s concerned about.
¡°I got stronger as the game went on, velo ticked up, stuff felt better more naturally,¡± Woo said.
Woo has been pitching on a six-day routine all spring and, given the way off-days slot out during the first two months of the regular season, he¡¯ll likely remain on that schedule for the time being.
If he¡¯s the No. 4 starter and everyone remains on turn -- which, obviously, can change quickly -- his spot will only once necessitate a five-day turn until June 8, a span of, hypothetically, a dozen starts. Woo pitched on a five-day turn in eight of his 22 starts last season.
¡°I try to still be ready preparation-wise for that fifth day, and then just taking the sixth to kind of keep building,¡± Woo said. ¡°But in my mind, I'm preparing for a five-day schedule. So throughout the week, on day five, knowing that I'm ready to pitch, and then day six is kind of a bonus.¡±
Woo, 25, reached a career-high 121 1/3 innings last season, not including 14 frames he made in four Minor League rehab outings while he was recovering from separate stints on the injured list. He accumulated 131 2/3 innings the year prior (including Minors), and 57 in 2022, when he was exclusively in the Minors.
As for those IL stints, Woo missed the first six weeks of last season with right elbow inflammation and another two weeks beginning on June 25 with a right hamstring strain.
Injuries mostly defined his early years in the organization, given that he was still recovering from Tommy John surgery when the Mariners selected him in the sixth round of the 2021 Draft. But the upward trajectory on which he finished 2024 underscored how much Woo is trying to distance himself from them.
¡°I wouldn't say it's gloves off, but I think it's always a situation that's going to be closely monitored,¡± Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. ¡°But all signs have pointed to him being in a really good spot and certainly less of a worry that has been in the past.¡±
When healthy, Woo was one of the game¡¯s most productive pitchers. Among 107 with the same workload or higher last year, Woo ranked second in WHIP (0.90), second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.77), third in opponents¡¯ OPS (.574) and eighth in ERA (2.89).
And despite being a back-end starter in Seattle, Woo has one of the club¡¯s most electric arms, a low-slot release point that allows both his fastballs to play up. But this spring has been more about harnessing the secondaries -- a sweeper, slider and changeup, which he began leaning on down the stretch last fall.
¡°For me, it's an intent thing,¡± Woo said. ¡°It's a commitment thing. I can't just really feel things out and try to spin them. I just don't get the most out of my work that way. So kind of reeling back on the volume and getting after it more with intensity. It¡¯s a little bit of a trade off, but I think it¡¯s helped a lot.¡±
The totality of what Woo can become is still in front of him, and the fascination he carried in 2024 will almost certainly roll into 2025.