Castillo Conundrum

[D-train]

A lot of Geniuses on X are suggesting they just put him on the phantom IL.

They honestly think they call Castillo into the office and tell them you suck so back we are going to risk being Fined and punished by MLB and pretend you have an injury so we can get your ass off the active roster.

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[D-train]

He is owed over $40M. Better chance Stanton decides to become a Nun than DFA him and eat that contract.

[D-train]

My Dad had it right when he cut out, commented on and mailed me this column unaware that I could access the Times online when I lived in Boston. btw good chance there are no dreds at all on the roster next season.

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[Michael K.]

Seems like a no brainer to me. He becomes long relief when Miller is ready. The guy had his day, but that day has past.

[Seattle or Bust]

I say have him just go balls to the wall as a reliever.

See if he can tick his fastball up to 98-100 in short work and have at it.

[DavidGee24]

I'd like to see our front office do some Godfather shit here, you know, grease a few palms in the MLB front office to get Castillo on the IL and if that doesn't work, make an offer they can't refuse.

[Captain 97]

When you give a 31 year old pitcher a 5 year deal you have to factor in that it might be an albatross by the end of the contract. I feel like they have no choice but to cut bait. He clearly has nothing left in the tank. Our nancy boy rotation doesn't pitch past the 5th inning so you can't really afford to clog up a bullpen spot with a turd like Castillo.

[GL_Storm]

I keep wondering about Castillo's disappearing changeup. A few years ago he had one of the best changeups in MLB and then he joined the Mariners and since then has transitioned to primarily 4-seam fastball, sinker, and slider, with the changeup used as an occasional show me pitch. It is also true that as he has changed his pitch mix and de-prioritized the changeup, the changeup has become less effective. What I would like to know is this: why the adjustment? Was there a deterioration in the movement qualities of the changeup that forced the adjustment, or was it a proactive suggestion by the Mariners?

[Captain 97]

I keep wondering about Castillo's disappearing changeup. A few years ago he had one of the best changeups in MLB and then he joined the Mariners and since then has transitioned to primarily 4-seam fastball, sinker, and slider, with the changeup used as an occasional show me pitch. It is also true that as he has changed his pitch mix and de-prioritized the changeup, the changeup has become less effective. What I would like to know is this: why the adjustment? Was there a deterioration in the movement qualities of the changeup that forced the adjustment, or was it a proactive suggestion by the Mariners?

His average fastball velocity when we acquired him from Cincy was 97.1 MPH. He has lost velocity as he has aged which in turn makes his change up less effective. Same thing that took Felix from a perennial Cy young Contender to being out of baseball by age 34.

[GL_Storm]

I keep wondering about Castillo's disappearing changeup. A few years ago he had one of the best changeups in MLB and then he joined the Mariners and since then has transitioned to primarily 4-seam fastball, sinker, and slider, with the changeup used as an occasional show me pitch. It is also true that as he has changed his pitch mix and de-prioritized the changeup, the changeup has become less effective. What I would like to know is this: why the adjustment? Was there a deterioration in the movement qualities of the changeup that forced the adjustment, or was it a proactive suggestion by the Mariners?

His average fastball velocity when we acquired him from Cincy was 97.1 MPH. He has lost velocity as he has aged which in turn makes his change up less effective. Same thing that took Felix from a perennial Cy young Contender to being out of baseball by age 34.

But the transition started several years ago and his velocity has mostly been 95+. Felix's loss of velocity was much more severe and as I recall it started getting talked about fairly early in his career.

Even this year, if you look on Baseball Savant, Castillo's average 4-seam velocity is 94.8 and his sinker is 95.1. There are plenty of pitchers that would love to have that kind of arm power.