Biography
Luis Miguel Castillo (born December 12, 1992) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2017 with the Cincinnati Reds. Castillo is a three-time All-Star.
Professional career
San Francisco Giants
Castillo signed with the San Francisco Giants as an international free agent in December 2011. Castillo only pitched as a reliever in the Giants' farm system. He made his professional debut in 2012 with the DSL Giants, going 1–3 with a 3.31 ERA in 54+1⁄3 innings pitched. In 2013, he returned there, going 0–1 with a 0.64 ERA in 27 appearances. In 2014, he came to the United States, pitching for the Augusta GreenJackets where he had a 2–2 record and 3.07 ERA in 48 appearances.
Miami Marlins
On December 20, 2014, Castillo and Kendry Flores were traded to the Miami Marlins for Casey McGehee. Castillo started 2015 with the Greensboro Grasshoppers and was promoted to the Jupiter Hammerheads in July. In 35 games, 16 of them starts, with the two teams, he was 6–6 with a 3.20 ERA.
Castillo began 2016 with Jupiter and was promoted to the Jacksonville Suns in August. In 26 games, only two of them in relief, between Jupiter and Jacksonville, he was 8–6 with a 2.26 ERA. The Marlins added Castillo to their 40-man roster after the season.
San Diego Padres
Castillo was part of a scuttled trade that briefly made him a member of the San Diego Padres organization in the summer of 2016. On July 29, the Marlins traded Castillo along with Jarred Cosart, Josh Naylor, and Carter Capps to the Padres for pitchers Andrew Cashner, Colin Rea, and Tayron Guerrero. However, Castillo returned to the Marlins two days later, after Rea exited his first start as a Marlin with an elbow injury and was sent back to the Padres. Castillo never pitched in the Padres organization.
Cincinnati Reds
On January 19, 2017, the Marlins traded Castillo, Austin Brice, and Isaiah White to the Cincinnati Reds for starter Dan Straily. Castillo began 2017 with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. In 14 starts in Double-A, he had a 4–4 record and 2.58 ERA.
On June 23, 2017, the Reds promoted Castillo, who made his MLB debut against the Washington Nationals. Castillo pitched for the Reds the rest of the season, going 3–7 with a 3.12 ERA in 15 starts. He returned to Cincinnati's starting rotation in 2018: in 31 starts, he posted a record of 10–12 with an ERA of 4.30 in 169+2⁄3 innings.
On March 19, 2019, Castillo was named the Reds' Opening Day starter. He was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for April. He set career highs with 15 wins, 226 strikeouts, and 79 walks in 2019, posting a 3.40 ERA in 190+2⁄3 innings. He was named to his first All-Star Game, where he pitched a clean inning, striking out Carlos Santana and J.D. Martinez.
In the abbreviated 2020 season, Castillo had a 4–6 record and a 3.21 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 70 innings of work. He started Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, picking up the loss against the Atlanta Braves after allowing one run in five innings in his postseason debut.
In 2021, Castillo recorded a 3.98 ERA with 192 strikeouts in 187+2⁄3 innings over 33 starts. He tied for the MLB lead with 16 losses and led the NL with 75 walks. He induced the most groundballs of all major league pitchers.
On March 22, 2022, Castillo signed a $7.35 million contract with the Reds, avoiding salary arbitration. He missed the first month of 2022 and started the year with a 4–4 record and 2.86 ERA in 14 starts with the Reds. He was the Reds' lone selection to the All-Star Game, where he struck out two batters and allowed a single in an inning of work.
Seattle Mariners
On July 29, 2022, the Reds traded Castillo to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for prospects Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, Andrew Moore, and Levi Stoudt. On September 24, Castillo signed a five-year, $108 million contract with a sixth-year option.
Castillo had a 3.19 ERA in 11 starts with Seattle in 2022. He helped the Mariners end their 21-year playoff drought. In Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, he threw 7+1⁄3 scoreless innings, striking out 5 and allowing 6 hits in a 4–0 Mariners win. Castillo was the first Mariners starter to pitch at least 7 innings in the postseason without allowing a run. He started Game 2 of the American League Division Series and continued his scoreless postseason streak until allowing a two-run home run to Yordan Alvarez in the sixth inning and picking up the loss against the Houston Astros.
Castillo started on Opening Day in 2023, earning a win over the Cleveland Guardians after throwing six scoreless innings. Castillo had an ERA of 2.84 after three months and was named to his third All-Star Game, though he sat out the Midsummer Classic in Seattle. He faded slightly in the second half, finishing the year with a 14–9 record and 3.34 ERA, with 219 strikeouts in 197 innings. He finished fifth in American League Cy Young Award voting and had the fifth lowest ERA in the league.
Castillo was the Mariners Opening Day starter again in 2024, this time losing to the Boston Red Sox. After a rough first three starts, in which he gave up four earned runs in each outing and could not finish the sixth inning, Castillo returned to form the rest of the season, posting a 3.33 ERA after April 8, nearly matching his 2023 run prevention rate. His season ended early, with a hamstring injury sending him to the injured list on September 10. In 2024, he was 11–12 with a 3.64 ERA and 175 strikeouts in 175+1⁄3 innings pitched.
Pitching style
Castillo pitches from a low arm slot, with his arm angle lower over the course of his career. Early in his career, he combined a good changeup to go along with a fastball that averaged between 95 and 97 miles per hour and a slider. In 2019, he had the most valuable changeup in baseball. He used four-seam fastballs and sliders against left-handers, while using two-seamers and changeups against right-handers as strikeout pitches.
Over time, Castillo's changeup became less effective and less used. While his changeup was his most frequently thrown pitch from 2019 to 2021, thrown at least 30 percent of the time each season, he relied more on his fastball starting in 2022, increasing his fastball usage from 29 percent in 2021 to 45 percent in 2024. He had one of the 10 most valuable fastballs in each season from 2022 to 2024. His changeup dropped to his fourth most frequent pitch, thrown only 14 percent of the time in 2024.
Since joining the Mariners in 2022, Castillo has also limited his walks. He walked 8.8 percent of batters faced in his first five seasons with the Reds, leading the league in walks in 2021, but reduced his walk rate to 6.8 percent in his first two full seasons in Seattle.
Personal life
Castillo and his wife Elanyi have two daughters. He enjoys fishing.
Castillo's baseball idol was Pedro Martínez, who gave him advice on throwing a changeup.
Castillo is nicknamed "La Piedra" (Spanish for "The Rock.") He dressed up as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson for a Mariners television commercial in 2024.