Luis Castillo has seemingly become an afterthought when the inevitable debates happen about who the Mariners\u2019 best starter is.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Following Castillo\u2019s impressive outing, Yahoo Sports\u2019 Jordan Shusterman<\/a> joined Seattle Sports\u2019 Bump and Stacy and discussed why the three-time All-Star is such an important part of this Mariners roster.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI gotta give Luis Castillo some love here,\u201d Shusterman said. \u201cI 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 (Rodr\u00edguez) is in some respect, because he makes that opening day roster in \u201922. 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 \u2013 \u2018The Rock,\u2019 as they call him.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd now to kind of fade into the background behind these homegrown starters that we\u2019re constantly debating \u2013 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s were making a push for the American League West title in September.<\/p>\n Mariners\u2019 Luis Castillo has a 0.00 ERA in cold weather<\/a><\/p>\n His start on Monday, which included notching his 1,500th career strikeout, showed Shusterman there\u2019s still plenty left in the tank for the 33-year-old starter.<\/p>\n \u201cNow what he shows you in a start like that against the Yankees, there is still real upside there,\u201d Shusterman said. \u201cSo if he\u2019s going to be able to show that kind of velocity over the course of this season, we shouldn\u2019t be shocked because this is one of the better right-handed pitchers of his generation, even if it\u2019s like a tick below the guys that have been winning Cy Youngs.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n With some more performances like Monday\u2019s, perhaps Castillo will start to get more consideration in the Mariners\u2019 starting pitcher debate.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we\u2019ve seen with this rotation, the ordering of who\u2019s pitching the best basically changes almost by the month over these past few years,\u201d Shusterman said. \u201cBut I think Castillo is a really exciting part of that puzzle, even though he\u2019s been here for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Hear the full conversation at this link<\/a> 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n More on the Seattle Mariners<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Will Mariners become more aggressive with ABS challenges?<\/a>
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