With so much homegrown talent among the Seattle Mariners’ starters, the most accomplished pitcher in the rotation can often be overlooked.
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Luis Castillo has seemingly become an afterthought when the inevitable debates happen about who the Mariners’ best starter is.
In his season debut Monday, the right-hander offered a reminder why he belongs in those conversations with six shutout innings and seven strikeouts against the New York Yankees.
Following Castillo’s impressive outing, Yahoo Sports’ Jordan Shusterman joined Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy and discussed why the three-time All-Star is such an important part of this Mariners roster.
“I gotta give Luis Castillo some love here,” Shusterman said. “I think he is such an interesting character on this roster, because to me, Luis Castillo represents the beginning of this Mariners era. I mean, you could say that Julio (Rodríguez) is in some respect, because he makes that opening day roster in ’22. But the trade for Castillo, what he was able to do to help them get to the postseason and then extending him and having him just be this anchor – ‘The Rock,’ as they call him.
“And now to kind of fade into the background behind these homegrown starters that we’re constantly debating – oh, is Logan (Gilbert) better? Is George (Kirby) better? Bryce (Miller) and Bryan Woo, those guys are awesome. But Luis Castillo is still so important to this team in terms of the stability.”
Castillo was the stabilizing force in the rotation last year as the only of the top five starters to avoid a stint on the injured list. He pitched to a 3.54 ERA over 180 2/3 innings, and the team went 19-13 in his 32 starts, including winning the final four as the M’s were making a push for the American League West title in September.
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His start on Monday, which included notching his 1,500th career strikeout, showed Shusterman there’s still plenty left in the tank for the 33-year-old starter.
“Now what he shows you in a start like that against the Yankees, there is still real upside there,” Shusterman said. “So if he’s going to be able to show that kind of velocity over the course of this season, we shouldn’t be shocked because this is one of the better right-handed pitchers of his generation, even if it’s like a tick below the guys that have been winning Cy Youngs.
“He’s a great pitcher, and if he can get back to being that maybe All-Star-level pitcher, that just gives (the Mariners) so much more room for error.”
With some more performances like Monday’s, perhaps Castillo will start to get more consideration in the Mariners’ starting pitcher debate.
“As we’ve seen with this rotation, the ordering of who’s pitching the best basically changes almost by the month over these past few years,” Shusterman said. “But I think Castillo is a really exciting part of that puzzle, even though he’s been here for a while.”
Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player above. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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