Padres left-hander Jose Castillo will miss roughly six weeks after being diagnosed with a teres major strain, manager Jayce Tingler told reporters Thursday (Twitter link via Dennis Lin of The Athletic). The 24-year-old southpaw exited Wednesday’s intrasquad game with what the team initially termed a possible lat injury.
It’ll be the second straight season with a notable injury for Castillo, who was limited to 8 2/3 innings between Triple-A and the Majors last year. He opened the 2019 season on the IL due to a flexor strain and suffered a torn ligament in his hand in his first and only big league appearance last year.
The six-week absence could sideline Castillo for nearly half the truncated 2020 season, and Tingler acknowledged that it might take him out of the 2020 equation entirely. “We’re going to need some breaks for him to return to play this year,” the manager said. “We’re going to stay optimistic.”
Castillo, acquired from the Rays in the three-team blockbuster that sent Wil Myers to San Diego and Trea Turner to D.C., was excellent in his 2018 debut campaign. After pitching to a combined 2.05 ERA in 26 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, he got the call to the big leagues and worked to a 3.29 ERA with a 52-to-12 K/BB ratio in 38 1/3 frames for the Padres. Armed with a fastball that averages 95 mph and a slider that has befuddled left- and right-handed hitters alike, Castillo generated a hearty 14 percent swinging-strike rate that season and looked to be on his way to establishing himself as a quality long-term piece in the Friars’ relief corps.
That may still prove to be the case, but it’s hard not to have some degree of concern with the arm injuries that have already begun to pile up for the promising young lefty. Drew Pomeranz, Matt Strahm, Adrian Morejon and likely fifth starter Joey Lucchesi are the only other southpaws on the Padres’ 40-man roster, although the team’s 60-man player pool includes non-roster a trio of lefties: Joey Cantillo, 2018 first-round pick Ryan Weathers and uber-prospect MacKenzie Gore, who could eventually push for a spot in the rotation in 2020.
Surprising an actual baseball related injury! I doubt he plays this year.
Probably going to be a lot more then this. Getting my baseball addiction through KBO the past 2 months, it sounds like they’re injuries were up this year due to the revised schedule. I bet the same happens here. Regardless of Covid, it might make sense to sit out 60 games instead of risk missing 2021 for TJ surgery
Makes sense. I’m not sure I’d’ve thought of that. Thanks for the research. I’ve streamed some KBO games in the early morning rock dove blind.
It’s just not the same for me, though. Uni’s, players, stadiums…old dog new trick stuff, man.
Semper Gumby, man. For the league, teams, & players. Ya know?
Of course; Ductus Exemplo. (which can be so damn hard)
I blame Padres2019ha
I blame Preller.
Yeah him too
I blame Jose’s wife.
Just sit him for this season hopefully he can get better for next year.
Luckily for the Padres they have one of the deepest bullpens in the league. Even with Castillo and Munoz down it has still got to be a top 5 pen.
This might open up a spot for Baez or Morejon to stick in the pen. Even though they’re both raw they’re both loaded with potential so there’s plenty of good options.
Hopefully Castillo recovers quick and is available down the stretch, the more arms on hand the better.
Wow last year in his 8 minor league IP he struck out 18 batters! (he also struck out even more in his brief ML appearances) but this is a rough break for him as he’s really seemed to figure things out and dramatically improved his K/9 numbers since moving FT to the pen, and then even moreso since 2018. Best of luck to his recovery… if he can get healthy and back on track he could really be a K machine out of the pen for them