The Mariners placed Luis Castillo on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 9, with a left hamstring strain. GM Justin Hollander told reporters this evening that the strain is of a Grade 2 variety. Seattle also transferred reliever Yimi García from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list, ending his season. Catcher Seby Zavala was selected onto the 40-man roster.
Castillo exited his start against the Cardinals on Sunday after three innings because of the injury. He went for imaging yesterday. That revealed the strain, which is evidently of moderate severity. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that Castillo received a platelet-rich plasma injection and is hopeful of returning when first eligible.
That may well be determined as much by how the team plays over the next two weeks as by Castillo’s recovery. The M’s are holding onto faint playoff hopes. They’re tied with the Tigers and Red Sox at three games back of the Twins for the American League’s last Wild Card spot. Seattle is 4.5 games behind the Astros in the AL West.
Castillo would first be eligible to return on September 24. There’d be five games left in the regular season — two at Houston and a three-game set at home against the A’s. Seattle would surely need to make up ground on either the Twins or Astros before then to have any hope of a playoff berth. If they don’t do so, there’d be little reason to get Castillo back before the end of the year.
It’s the first injured list stint in two years for the three-time All-Star. Castillo hadn’t missed a start since the M’s acquired him at the 2022 deadline. He pitched 11 times down the stretch that year and made 33 appearances last season. Castillo is tied for the MLB lead with 30 starts this year. He owns a 3.64 ERA with a 24.3% strikeout rate across 175 1/3 innings. While this has been a slight step down from last season — when he finished fifth in Cy Young balloting — Castillo remains one of the more valuable starters in the game. Emerson Hancock will probably take his rotation spot alongside George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller.
Seattle also loses one of their top relievers for the year. García has been shut down from throwing after experiencing elbow soreness during a recent bullpen session, the team announced (relayed on X by Daniel Kramer of MLB.com). The right-hander has been on the IL since August 24 due to elbow inflammation. García, an impending free agent, has been on the IL twice this year with elbow problems.
García had pitched very well for the Blue Jays earlier in the season. He turned in a 2.70 ERA with a 36.5% strikeout rate across 30 innings before the M’s acquired him in a deal sending rookie outfielder Jonatan Clase to Toronto. That didn’t pan out for the Mariners. García managed only nine innings in a Seattle uniform and allowed six runs. There’s no indication he’ll need any kind of surgery, but a forearm injury is a frustrating end to what had been shaping up as a strong walk year for the veteran righty.
Zavala returns to the MLB roster for his third stint of the season. The out-of-options catcher has hit .154/.214/.282 in 18 games. He’s hitting .188/.325/.376 across 33 appearances with Triple-A Tacoma. Zavala can work as a third catcher behind Cal Raleigh and Mitch Garver for the time being. It may be a short stay on the roster, though, as Seattle could jettison a position player to add a 14th pitcher to the active roster once they need a fifth starter this weekend.
Grade 2 muscles strains generally take several months for recovery.
Seems unlikely he could return in only a couple weeks. That’s the timeline for a grade 1.
Real shame about Garcia. He had been good for several years for the Jays.
The Mariners have got to figure a way to convert(trade)some of that excellent young starting pitching into at least one elite, everyday offensive player, ideally a second, first or third baseman.
Nope, they need to just stop being cheap, sign a free agent, and actually go for it. Or trade prospects. Doing what you suggested won’t make them better, it’ll just make them different. If there was another young pitcher on the horizon to replicate their success, it would make sense, but there’s not. Hancock is more like a true 5 and Logan Evans is too much of a wild card.
I’m tired of the suggested solution to getting better at offense being getting worse at pitching.
“Cheap”…With guys like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rendon and Javy Baez(maybe Xander Bogarts) in the world, I don’t fault any team for not wanting to risk an extremely expensive headache or misstep. In my opinion, for 75% of available free agents the risk/reward ratio is skewed.
Care to mention any particular free agents the M’s should or could have gone after? For me, the easiest solution is to leverage what they already have, pitching, and try to turn some of that into an above average everyday player.
We can complain about “cheap” ownership(practically every fanbase is calling their owners “cheap” these days)until the cows come home, but at the end of the day the owners still decide what the team will spend.
Yeah, the vast majority of the fan base wanted Marcus Semien who would have solidified 2B for the past 3 years. Blake Snell was also a top tier preference that would have allowed the team to do exactly as you suggested and trade one of Miller or Woo for a bat. People wanted Chapman (admittedly I didn’t) and he would’ve been an upgrade. Hell, people even just wanted the 1 year deal it would’ve taken to get Justin Turner. Went and traded for him after the fact anyway. Xander Bogaerts has slashed .305/.349/.443 in the 2nd half. Obviously SD paid an exorbitant amount that wouldn’t have made sense for Seattle, but he had one bad half, he hasn’t been a free agent bust.
I get your point about complaining about ownership but the M’s had the highest profit margin in 2022 and 2nd highest in 2023, according to Forbes. They need to put those resources back into the team.
But to address your point: if they aren’t going to spend, then trade prospect capital for a known commodity. They’re never going to make the push by trading their talent. It will either be a neutral maneuver or make them worse because we know how badly hitters struggle to adjust with Seattle.
“Neutral maneuver”…You got that one right. Those “neutral”, lateral trades/acquisitions drive me nuts with the M’s. It’s almost like they’re playing not to lose, instead of playing to win. You raise some overall solid points.
Forbes doesn’t get to see the books of major league teams, either. Their article is speculation, not fact.
This team since back when Nintendo bought the team has not signed players to win or lose they have signed them to make a profit. We all appreciate the team was bought to keep it here. To run the team as a profit first winning is OK is a failure at the highest level. Stanton has continued this thinking. It is sad this City and Region deserve so much more.
And that’s why I’d rather see them take a risk by trading prospects or signing a FA who is less risky (I think a lot of us were wondering why anyone would give Baez that kind of deal!) Who that is… I don’t know. But I just envision a Gilbert trade going extremely sideways.
They don’t get to see the books, but it’s more than just speculation, as they are privy to plenty of information since they have a good deal of sources within every organization. If they’re off, they aren’t off by much. Ozanian and Teitelbaum seem pretty confident in their results.
Agreed, although the only FA 2Bman I like is the Korean dude. I forget his name. Prospects will return prospects, imo, not ML players. So I am guessing we get 2-3 unproven guys for 2B and 3B, and hopefully re-sign Turner.
That would be my plan:
1, get Kim
2, trade some really excellent pitching prospects to a team or teams lacking pitching but possessing tons of extra hitters.
Some people are thinking Cole Young coukd be promoted, but the M’s have said that although they’re willing to have pitchers skio AAA, they think hitters need it. So maybe he’d be a midseason option.
Hard pass at this idea
if our pitching is as excellent as you say, bring in the fences
Do you really want to suppress another good hitter by bringing him into t Mobile. We have a good offense, just need to balance out the field
The team’s offense was better BEFORE they moved the fences in, back in 2013.
Can you provide the stats?
I could see a little more room in the outfield helping singles hitters
Check out the results of the long term study they conducted about how to best approach offense to defeat the marine layer. I think it was Divish who provided some great notes about the conclusions and added some insight.
They should have done that 2 yrs ago. Dipoto has been good in the draft, but I’m not sure how much faith I have in him to pull off the necessary trade.
If the tigers won’t trade Tarik they have zero reason to trade Greene…
Detroit has a lot of untouchables and their top guys like jung and keith and jobe and Clark are no goes
But… Spencer torkelson, ey?
The Mariners should spend whatever it takes to hire the best hitting coach available, and then offer some of their pitchers to the Cardinals for Nolan Gorman.
Seems like a not-terrible plan.
This talk about trading away our pitching or our “young pitchers” is getting ridiculous. Good, talented pitchers are so hard to come by, and the Mariners have just had a great class of starting pitchers and relievers come up, and really do well. The Mariners don’t need to make any trades, and we also don’t need to sign any free agents. We just need to be patient and wait for this class of incoming bats to make their way onto our roster. Lazaro Montes, Harry Ford, Colt Emerson, Cole Young, and Felnin Celesten. This is the future of your infield right here. Just like Gilbert, Kirby, Miller, Woo, Taylor, Munoz, etc, who are all people who would require nothing short monumental A+ returns in trades, this incoming class of offensive/position players is gonna be great, especially Montes and Young. I’m really super high on these guys.
And if you’re going to make trades or sign free agents-if you are-it should be A- to A+ players you’re acquiring in return. The Mariners have a long history of spending a lot of money or trading for on D to B- players, if not F’s. Only Nelson Cruz (B+), Robinson Cano (B+), Adrian Beltre (B+ at the time, later became a higher grade), are players the Mariners have acquired who have been in the high B range. For example, way overspending on a C- player in Garver, who’s turned out to be an F, or way, way overspending on someone like Carlos Silva (D), Chone Figgins (C+ at the time), James Baldwin (D), or Scott Spiezio (D). The Mariners have not had a good offseason since the 2000-2001 offseason. That and the 1999-2000 offseason were excellent. During those offseason’s, the Mariners actually acquired via free agency, some high class talent, namely John Olerud (A-) and Ichiro (A+). The failure in the early 2000’s was failing to acquire a solid left handed outfield bat. We acquired Al Martin (C) who ended up as an F. Someone like Brian Giles (B+ at the time, would drop down to a B/B-) would have been a solid pickup, JD Drew (A-) whom I would have had a great package for, Johnny Damon (B), and Carlos Beltran (B+) whom I also had a great package for, and all grades are at the time of 2000/2001 seasons. The Mariners had the resources and projected talent to pull off a monumental heist for one of these players, and whatever ridiculous/insane package you put together would have been worth it, and would have put the Mariners in the playoffs in 2002. There’s a time and a place for everything though. Right now, is neither the time or the place to give up a lot or pay a lot for really anyone, unless you’re going after Vlad or Alonso, but even there, you’re going to have to overpay. Ty France is doing well for Cincinnati by the way, and Suarez is doing well for Arizona. They’ve had some big moments recently against the Astros…Better than Raley/Rojas/Turner.
They have a couple of prospects ready for a Sept call up in 2025.
Then they have a couple of prospects ready for a Sept call up in 2026.
They have a no prospects ready for a 2025 Opening Day Roster Spot.
American high school prospects need 1000-1500 PA for a median WAR of 15.4 during his cost controlled years.
For an American collage prospect to achieve a median WAR of 12.8 during his cost controlled years he needs about 500 less PA.
International prospects need about the same number of PA as the high school prospect but only for a median WAR of 4.8 during his cost controlled years.
As far as I know 1B Tyler Locklear(15th), 2B Ryan Bliss(13th) & LF Spencer Packard(28th) are currently the only “top” prospects in AAA.
When all the top hitting prospects are up Cal/Castillo will be gone and 3 of the starters will be starting for Mets, Padres & Dodgers.
Yes, now is the exact time to pay/overpay. The hitting prospects and this starting 5 will never all be on the field at the same time.
A $800mm offer to Soto would help, M’s can afford it and Stanton would make his money back but hed never come to this dysfunctional organization.
France just got there and Geno lost his job mid season
So you want to ruin Soto as well? He’ll have the same issue everyone else does and we’ll be on the hook for 500 million or.. 800 million you say?
Bring in the fences, we have the young hitting prospects coming up cater to their strengths
Arraez had no problem last night going 3-5.
You think a future HoF will have a problem in Seattle? Trout always hit well in Seattle.
Its not the fences, its the the player talent that has been signed.
When you bring in the fences for the young hitting prospects then it will be a problem for the pitchers.
Build the team around the park.
Thumbs up, he can hit in T-Mobile, wait he’s a single hitter… who gives a rip
Your letter grades are funny (in a good way).
Mariners need to bring in the fences to attract free agency signings and to put less pressure on their hitters. Since the T-Mobile Park is pitcher-friendly, perhaps their starting pitchers’ stats are overrated. Speaking of overrated, IMO, J-Rod is an overhyped player.
A 5 tool player overrated our pitching staff overrated. Posting this kind of ignorance is a waste of space. His fielding and baserunning is elite. He is having a down year which is not that unusual for a young player. 3 years in he is still younger than a vast number of players making their first starts in the majors. If our SP is so overrated why would a team want them in trade. They are also young except Castillo who is the weakest of the SP based on results and age. I have told my son a few times they need to call Hancock up and give the SP a few extra days off.
He’s not overhyped based on his first two seasons. He does everything excellent on the field with an exciting personality. He’s only 23yrs old. Yes the team goes as Julio goes , but little fault to him it’s just growing pains. He IS that guy, will be a leader and motivator and will be a beast moving forward
I agreed with everything until J-Rod. If the fences were moved in (or home plate were moved 15 feet closer to CF), J-Rod might have the same stats as Soto does in that Little League field called Yankee Stadium. The pitching is only good because the park is the Grand Canyon with a heavy marine layer, at least for the months of March, April, May, and September.
Jrod is streaky sure. He’ll put it together in his later seasons.
His personality is off the charts, everything you want out of a star. If my son grew up with his personality I would be ecstatic. A humble leader with all the talent. In Julio I will trust and fall if necessary
Again we go as Julio goes, but I can live with that.
The Tigers have no need for pitching. They have plenty and more coming up. They also filled their C of the future in the Flaherty trade with LAD, and just called up Dingler, a top prospect. They need a RH power bat, preferably OF. But thanks for playing.
Not sure about this. They couldn’t field more than 2 SPs during their run and in the playoffs.
I don’t know anything about their prospects, but I do know that the M’s success with pitching prospects is a major aberration in MLB. Most of them take a while to acclimate. Many never do.
M’s have a few really good pitching prospects like Morales and Evans. They should be able to each bring back a really good hitting prospect from someone with a pitching deficit and a hitting surfeit.
No idea who that might be, but they will be as unproven as Kim, which is yet another reason to re-sign Turner.
What a horribly-run franchise.
Impressed that M’s have been able to keep majority of their rotation the same since they got him from Reds.
That’s silly, we have Julio – Randy – Robles in the outfield next year. No way we trade SP for another OF.
True, but Dipoto has said they need a 1B, 2B, and 3B. I suspect the only good FA candidates for those spots are Kim and Turner. Then a prospect like Bliss or a trade-return guy at 3B.