Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo left Sunday’s game due to a strain in his left hamstring, and will undergo an MRI on Monday to assess the damage. Castillo told reporters (including Adam Jude of the Seattle Times) via interpreter that some discomfort first arose in the fourth inning when he moved on the mound to evade a throw that never came from catcher Mitch Garver on an Ivan Herrera stolen base. Two pitches after Herrera’s steal, Castillo grimaced on the mound after his follow-through, and left the game after a visit from trainers.
“The discomfort’s there. Tomorrow we’re going to get some [tests] done, just to see what it is, but hopefully it’s not too bad,” Castillo said.
With the Mariners battling for either the AL West title or a wild card, losing Castillo would put a serious dent in the club’s playoff hopes. Seattle ranks at or near the bottom of the league in several major offensive categories, yet the M’s have been carried by their elite rotation. The rotation has been both effective and durable — of the 21 starters who have tossed at least 161 1/3 MLB innings this season, four of them (Castillo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Bryce Miller) pitch for Seattle.
Bryan Woo has had a pair of IL stints, with Emerson Hancock stepping into the rotation in Woo’s place to take nine starts. Hancock (currently at Triple-A) is the likeliest candidate to return to the staff if Castillo has to go on the injured list, yet the former top prospect hasn’t been very consistent against big league hitters. Hancock has a 4.76 ERA in 45 1/3 innings and a 4.50 ERA in 12 innings in his 2023 debut season, and only a 13.8% strikeout rate in his brief MLB career.
While Hancock is a better sixth starter than most clubs possess, there’s still no easy way to replace Castillo. The three-time All-Star hasn’t been quite as effective as he was when finishing fifth in AL Cy Young Award voting in 2023, but Castillo still has a 3.64 ERA over 175 1/3 innings this year. His strikeout and walk rates are still above the league average, and while Castillo’s four-seamer has dropped in velocity from 96.3mph in 2023 to 95.5mph this season, it remains one of the most effective pitches in baseball.
We’re screwed with or without Castillo…
Cal Raleigh’s comments were so right last year man…
Agreed….sigh.
Obviously not a Mariners fan, but would you mind sharing what he said last year?
Paraphrased: unlike other competitive teams, the M’s never go out to acquire meaningful help for the team, don’t get players that make a difference.
Since it’s basically a repeat of criticisms that prior Mariners team leaders have made (e.g. Kyle Seager) the comments resonate with the fanbase as does the desire to shoot ownership + Jerry Dipoto into the sun
Epic, historic pitching, and it has been squandered because Dippy and owners wallets are more important. They rolled the dice, gambling thar guys like Garver and Polanco and others would have career seasons. I’ll say it again, sell the team Stanton! To an owner who actually wants to win.
You know I would even take a not so rich guy that has lower payrolls, at least owners of the rays and marlins are consistent and let the fans know what to expect, Stanton acts like we have the best team in the country but spends like a rebuilder (or as dipoto would say retool which is another word for small rebuild)
Anyone remember when Stanton said he’d raise the payroll for trade acquisitions? Instead we pay more prospects so we can get cheap Randy
Didn’t Nintendo own a stake in the team at one point? How were they as owners or partial owners?
Nintendo is still a minority owner, I think it’s 10% now. Nothing has really changed ownership-wise since they were the majority owners, they’ve mainly just shifted shares between owners. The M’s today are basically run the same as when Howard Lincoln was running the shop as an executive of Nintendo-Lincoln is still a decision maker as a minority owner! The M’s are treated like a division of a multi-national corporation, with a board of directors and ambitions that are mostly around keeping the Mariners in the black.
I guess I would summarize Mariners ownership as like a dysfunctional form of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ ownership
“Historic pitching” ? Very good (in a pitcher friendly ball park) but hardly historic.
One pitcher in top 10 for ERA (at #10)
One pitcher in top 10 for SO (at #5)
Two pitchers in top 10 for WHIP (at #1 and #5)
No pitchers in top 25 for Wins
That being said, I am a fan of Castillo, and like to watch him pitch. I trust he is not out of action for long.
I like Castillo too, but he’s more a good pitcher than a great pitcher, and some stats are already trending down. I don’t believe his contract will age well and wouldn’t be surprised if the Mariners try to move him this offseason.
I think he has a full no trade clause until the 2026 offseason.
* until the 2026 season
It wouldn’t be surprising, but NTC’s rarely stop trades if a team is committed. Just adds an extra negotiating level, while narrowing landing spots. If the Dodgers have an interest, for example, he goes. If the Rockies have an interest, he stays!
Which is why pitchers’ W-L records are really a team stat and mean nothing with regard to their ability. Just ask Felix Hernandez.
“Just ask Felix Hernandez”..Good point. And while we’re on the subject of Felix, it must be noted that the M’s offensive ineptitude truly extends back that far. Felix Hernandez was the “King” of the 1-0 loss.
As already pointed out, their pitching has been great but in no way historic.
What makes you think they were expecting career years from guys like Garver or Polanco? I’m sure that they were hoping for around their career averages or slightly better. 4 new position players #s have dropped drastically from their career averages(Polanco, Garver, Haniger, and Rojas). Had all 4 produced to their career averages M’s lineup would be much more sufficient. Career years were not needed.
As for Haniger, just getting out of Ray’s contract was a blessing for M’s. Anything Haniger contributes is just a bonus.
I’m not going to defend M’s ownership as far as spending. But who would you rather they have signed this past offseason that would have been willing to sign with them?? They made quite a bit of moves and tried to put together a competitive lineup. If I was an M’s fan my biggest grievance would be the approach taken. They went out and added where needed, they just added to many free swinging bats that don’t complement each other well and have provided no protection throughout the lineup.
Matt Chapman for one…..
They should’ve held on to Ray until the trade deadline and got quite the haul back instead of being stuck with Hanigers contract for another couple years.
They were going to get a haul for someone earning $25M while on the IL?
He was ready to pitch by the trade deadline
They had a golden opportunity two winters ago to sign Freddie Freeman. Ms owners sat on their hands.
They had basically 0 chance of signing Freeman. Dodgers would ve matched any offer. Freeman is from Orange County. If he was to leave ATL which he did, he had stated he’d prefer going to LA.
Ok, so zero is zero. My point is, owners once again didn’t even make an effort…it would be refreshing to have owners who actually make an effort to win.
You are making an assumption that they did not kick the tires in any way. I’m sure someone from front office called the office of his agent.
Seems your point has been just to throw out baseless assertions like darts hoping they land on a fact. And FYI your aim has been off.
I’ve had a lot of thumbs up on my other posts here, so yeah, I guess I’m off base…lol.
Ah thumbs up the eternal measure of fact and reality that have been cited by physicists, doctors, wisemen, and scholarship for centuries….
Seattle leads MLB with 85 quality starts, which is 13 more than the runner-up. Castillo has 18 of them, second to only Logan Gilbert.
The team also leads MLB in innings pitched and is second in strike outs.
This is a historical season for Seattle.
Have a nice day.
Thank you sir!
I could be wrong…but doesn’t Ray have the same injury?…
Pitching on west coast messes up the left hammy?
Or…could they have the same doctor….Dr. Winteroff?
Maybe the same doctor….Dr. Winteroff…
It feels like there should be a fit with the Mariners and the RS for Castillo’s services, even with the NTC. He has a declining skill set, but is still pretty good. And Seattle needs his $24M to add additional hitting.
And they will still have at least four good starters.
The move that has hurt this team the most was trading Geno….his good vibes are missing from this team, not to mention his offensive and defensive contributions……
Mariners are an unmitigated mess.
“Unmitigated mess”…The Anaheim Angels and Chicago Whitesox are a “mess”. The Seattle Mariners are a “middling” team, loaded with good young pitching and who somehow cannot seem to find the right offensive player mix.
There’s a reason why the phrase “Mariners gonna Mariner” exists. The home/road splits prove the point that the pitching is good, but not historic. If you pitch in a park the size of the Grand Canyon, you’re going to have great stats. And you’ll never attract a good hitter, ever, unless you vastly overpay for the final years of his contract. (Or, this off-season, move home plate 15 feet toward center field.)
Mariners gonna Mariner. This is just what they do. (I expect they’ll go on a 7-game winning streak now and just miss the playoffs by one game.)