Luis Castillo May Not Be Cooked

[Captain 97]

It bothers me how mariner fans can lack the appreciation for what a great pitcher Felix really was. The guy belongs in the HOF. I blame Dipoto for that narrative. Its funny to me all the Dipoto haters buying into it. What happened in the end was his body falling apart, he broke down

Félix Hernández was absolutely elite at reduced velocity from roughly 2012 through 2015, executing one of the most masterful pitching transitions of his era. During this stretch, he proved that a premier pitcher could remain a Cy Young contender without a high-90s fastball.He counteracted his declining velocity using a highly strategic approach:

The Supreme Changeup ("El Cambio")
As his fastball dropped from 96 mph down to 91–92 mph, the velocity gap between his fastball and changeup shrank to just 4–5 mph. Normally, this ruins a changeup, but Hernández's variation was legendary because it featured absurd, late, arm-side depth and sinking action. Hitters swung over it repeatedly, regardless of the radar gun.

Elite Sinker and Pitch Sequencing
He leaned heavily into a heavy, biting sinker and a sharp curveball. Instead of blowing hitters away, he used pinpoint command to generate weak contact on the ground and masterfully mixed speeds to keep hitters off-balance.

The Peak of His "Low-Velo" Dominance
His statistical peak actually occurred during this period of lower velocity, culminating in some of his absolute best career seasons

That's partially true. He did have a great season in 2014 but 2012, 2013 and 2015 were not up to par with his peak in 2009-2010. Also his velo just didn't drop in 2012 and stay consistent after that. It was a fairly linear decline that just kept getting worse. His average fastball in 2009 was 94.4, in 2014 in was 92.6, 2016 it was 90.5 and the last two years of his career in 2018 and 2019 it was below 90.

My opinion on Felix is that he was never really a great command guy. He thrived with great movement and changing speeds and getting guys to chase his changeup. When his velocity went away and guys no longer had to be geared up as much for his fastball, that totally negated his ability to throw the changeup out of the zone and get whiffs. If you are going to pitch in the major leagues with a sub 90 fastball, you better be able to pretty much hit your spot 100% of the time. Felix simply didn't have that physical ability to have elite command and no amount of "changing approach" was going to fix that.

[Captain 97]

I'd say we wait a couple more starts before declaring Castillo fixed, but knowing the luck of the Mariners, I wouldn't be surprised

Yeah pump the brakes a bit. Lets not forget he gave up 5 earned in 4 innings the start before this. He had a stretch earlier this year for the M's where he only gave up 2 earned runs in 3 games and then he went right back to getting shelled.

[Donn Beach]

It bothers me how mariner fans can lack the appreciation for what a great pitcher Felix really was. The guy belongs in the HOF. I blame Dipoto for that narrative. Its funny to me all the Dipoto haters buying into it. What happened in the end was his body falling apart, he broke down

Félix Hernández was absolutely elite at reduced velocity from roughly 2012 through 2015, executing one of the most masterful pitching transitions of his era. During this stretch, he proved that a premier pitcher could remain a Cy Young contender without a high-90s fastball.He counteracted his declining velocity using a highly strategic approach:

The Supreme Changeup ("El Cambio")
As his fastball dropped from 96 mph down to 91–92 mph, the velocity gap between his fastball and changeup shrank to just 4–5 mph. Normally, this ruins a changeup, but Hernández's variation was legendary because it featured absurd, late, arm-side depth and sinking action. Hitters swung over it repeatedly, regardless of the radar gun.

Elite Sinker and Pitch Sequencing
He leaned heavily into a heavy, biting sinker and a sharp curveball. Instead of blowing hitters away, he used pinpoint command to generate weak contact on the ground and masterfully mixed speeds to keep hitters off-balance.

The Peak of His "Low-Velo" Dominance
His statistical peak actually occurred during this period of lower velocity, culminating in some of his absolute best career seasons

That's partially true. He did have a great season in 2014 but 2012, 2013 and 2015 were not up to par with his peak in 2009-2010. Also his velo just didn't drop in 2012 and stay consistent after that. It was a fairly linear decline that just kept getting worse. His average fastball in 2009 was 94.4, in 2014 in was 92.6, 2016 it was 90.5 and the last two years of his career in 2018 and 2019 it was below 90.

My opinion on Felix is that he was never really a great command guy. He thrived with great movement and changing speeds and getting guys to chase his changeup. When his velocity went away and guys no longer had to be geared up as much for his fastball, that totally negated his ability to throw the changeup out of the zone and get whiffs. If you are going to pitch in the major leagues with a sub 90 fastball, you better be able to pretty much hit your spot 100% of the time. Felix simply didn't have that physical ability to have elite command and no amount of "changing approach" was going to fix that.

Yeah, he deteriorated, he wasnt going to become Jamie Moyer. But he gave it a pretty good shot. And the lack of appreciation for that annoys me. Its the irony. Dipoto gets labeled an idiot, hes not an idiot. Hes pretty fucking clever actually. What he is i believe is an asshole. I think he arrived in seattle with what he saw as an issue. An aging Felix on a fat contract and decided the remedy was to toss him under the bus. Posters here like to hate on dipoto for bring a crappy GM but are happy with how he treated one of our greatest players

[bpj]

It bothers me how mariner fans can lack the appreciation for what a great pitcher Felix really was. The guy belongs in the HOF. I blame Dipoto for that narrative. Its funny to me all the Dipoto haters buying into it. What happened in the end was his body falling apart, he broke down

That's partially true. He did have a great season in 2014 but 2012, 2013 and 2015 were not up to par with his peak in 2009-2010. Also his velo just didn't drop in 2012 and stay consistent after that. It was a fairly linear decline that just kept getting worse. His average fastball in 2009 was 94.4, in 2014 in was 92.6, 2016 it was 90.5 and the last two years of his career in 2018 and 2019 it was below 90.

My opinion on Felix is that he was never really a great command guy. He thrived with great movement and changing speeds and getting guys to chase his changeup. When his velocity went away and guys no longer had to be geared up as much for his fastball, that totally negated his ability to throw the changeup out of the zone and get whiffs. If you are going to pitch in the major leagues with a sub 90 fastball, you better be able to pretty much hit your spot 100% of the time. Felix simply didn't have that physical ability to have elite command and no amount of "changing approach" was going to fix that.

Yeah, he deteriorated, he wasnt going to become Jamie Moyer. But he gave it a pretty good shot. And the lack of appreciation for that annoys me. Its the irony. Dipoto gets labeled an idiot, hes not an idiot. Hes pretty fucking clever actually. What he is i believe is an asshole. I think he arrived in seattle with what he saw as an issue. An aging Felix on a fat contract and decided the remedy was to toss him under the bus. Posters here like to hate on dipoto for bring a crappy GM but are happy with how he treated one of our greatest players

He didn't give anything a shot once he lost the fastball after 10 years. He just kept pumping fastballs like a braindead ruhtard who couldnt adjust.

Or, wasn't capable, according to Donn. Either way, straighten out your hat. Trying to look cool only works when you don't pitch like a bitch.

[bpj]

In 2018 the Mariners went 89-73, but missed the playoffs while Felix went 8-14 (because sometimes Wins and Losses have a whole lot to do with the pitcher).

That, of course, led to the selling off of Cano and Diaz for Kelenic. Letting Nelson Cruz walk and settling for this "step back" we've been in since. Felix went 1-8 the next year.

But, as long as everyone recognizes the greatness of King Felix....

Barf.

[Donn Beach]

You know whats missing in baseball? Being able as a player or manager to go in the stands and punchng out a fan. Like Cobb or Durocher would want to do. Even breath on a fan these days, oh noes! Talk about about a bunch of pampered sissies.

[desbcoach]

4.2 IP 4 runs and 8 hits against cubs. Verdict still may be cooked but to early

[seattlefan-daBronx]

I'd say we wait a couple more starts before declaring Castillo fixed, but knowing the luck of the Mariners, I wouldn't be surprised

Exactomundo.