Luis Castillo gives Seattle Mariners early cause for concern

While it’s early days, Luis Castillo is not off to the best of starts and as a result the Mariners have gone 0-2 in his two appearances.

Heading into the 2024 campaign, the Seattle Mariners’ rotation was seen as the biggest strength on a ball club hoping to return to the postseason. And right at the top of the rotation was Luis Castillo, the staff ace.

That title will more than likely one day be held by George Kirby, but for now Castillo has the distinction and with good reason. Just last season he was as good as ever, resulting in receiving Cy Young votes for the first time in his Major League career. (He finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting.)

As such, there were understandably high hopes for the 31-year-old entering this season. However, thus far he’s been anything but up to his usual standard, losing both of his first two starts, including Tuesday night’s 5-2 defeat to the Cleveland Guardians.

Castillo tied a career-high in allowing 10 hits versus the Guardians, as he gave up four earned runs in 5.2 innings of action. The key hit was arguably Bo Naylor’s two-run homer in the top of the fourth, which made it 3-0 to the visitors.

Don’t put it all on Luis Castillo

The Dominican Republic native did only walk one batter, while striking out seven. It’s also fair to say he doesn’t deserve all of the blame, with his teammates contributing some costly errors.

Ultimately though, you need your staff ace to be pitching a better game to pick up everyone else, especially when the opposing starter is pitching lights out. Shane Bieber was sensational in throwing 6.0 shutout innings for the Guardians, allowing just six hits and no walks, while striking out nine.

In defense of Castillo, he did initially rise to the challenge set by Bieber, as he was similarly excellent through the first three innings. However, then it started to fall apart, again though not helped by errors, namely a couple from Mitch Haniger and Josh Rojas.

Postgame, Castillo turned philosopher in summarizing his performance on the night. Speaking through his translator, he said:

“I’ve always said it – maybe it’s not how you begin, but how you finish.”

Mariners manager Scott Servais gave his take on the outing by his star pitcher. He said:

“First three innings Luis was on top of his game. The long at-bat I believe (Will) Brennan had in the fourth inning kind of extended that inning and then the home run, and you look up and you’re down three runs. I thought Luis’ stuff was good tonight. I thought early in the game in the first couple of innings, he wasn’t ahead in the count (but) he was able to minimize damage there. Then after the error we made on the bunt put down by (Steven) Kwan. So we were still in the game in my mind (at that point).”

As much as anyone can have a bad outing — or maybe more specifically a bad inning in this instance — it doesn’t change the reality Castillo is now 0-2 to begin the season. His previous start in the season opener, saw him allow six hits, two walks and four earned runs in 5.0 innings.

That was a game the Mariners lost 6-4 to the Boston Red Sox. Even a half-decent outing would see the Mariners 1-1 in Castillo’s two starts and with an overall 4-2 record heading into Wednesday afternoon’s rubber match against the Guardians.

As a result, the three-time All-Star has an ugly stat line to begin 2024, that includes a 6.75 ERA, 4.40 FIP and 1.781 WHIP. Again, yes it’s very early, but to counter this at least to some extent, every game matters when it comes to the final standings.

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Keeping a positive outlook

Castillo was asked about how he feels so far in 2024, and he remains positive. Again speaking through his translator, he said:

“I feel good. You have to keep working and working. The good stuff is about to come. They only thing I can do is to maintain my positive mentality and not get frustrated.”

One thing Castillo hopes is better this season is his changeup, and he was encouraged by how effective it was against the Guardians. He said:

“It’s very important. Instead of two pitches, I get a third one that’s very effective. Today, I felt like the location was there.”

The Mariners and their fans will of course be hoping Castillo reverts back to his dominating self sooner than later, to help the ball club avoid their usual slow start to seasons under Servais. The righty will get his next opportunity next Tuesday in Toronto, with him projected to face the Blue Jays.

What are your thoughts on the start to the 2024 season for Luis Castillo? Are you confident this is just a blip, or concerned it could become an ongoing issue for the Mariners? Let us know in the comments section below.