The Mariners have signed right-hander Luis F. Castillo to a minor league contract and invited him to big league camp this spring, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. The 29-year-old Castillo — obviously not to be confused with the eight-year MLB veteran of the same first and last name currently in Seattle’s rotation — pitched briefly with the Tigers in 2022 and has spent the past two seasons in Japan.
The younger Castillo has pitched 3 2/3 shutout frames in the majors, yielding only two hits and no walks with four strikeouts for Detroit in that ’22 cup of coffee. He carries a career 1.93 ERA in 18 2/3 Double-A frames and a 3.28 ERA in 60 1/3 Triple-A innings spread across two seasons. The Tigers outrighted him off their 40-man roster following the 2022 season, and he elected free agency before going on to sign with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan.
Castillo pitched well with the Marines, logging 49 innings with their big league squad and recording a 3.12 ERA with a sub-par 17% strikeout rate but a microscopic 1.5% walk rate. He faced 200 batters that season with the Marines and issued only three walks (plus another two hit batsmen).
Castillo parlayed that impressive showing into a bigger look with NPB’s Orix Buffaloes. As with the Marines, he pitched quite well. Castillo pitched 94 1/3 innings out of the Buffaloes’ rotation (15 starts) and notched a 2.96 ERA with an improved 19.6% strikeout rate. The absurd walk rate he demonstrated a year prior unsurprisingly proved impossible to sustain, but his 4.8% walk rate was excellent nevertheless.
Whether the newly signed Castillo will serve as rotation depth or compete for a spot in the bullpen isn’t clear. The Seattle rotation is stacked with the presence of the other Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo. Depth options like Emerson Hancock, Jhonathan Diaz and Blas Castano are all on the 40-man roster, while well-regarded prospect Logan Evans pitched quite well in Double-A last season and could be ready for a big league look this summer.
What does the F stand for lol
Fantastic
Finding out what “J” stands for…”the secret to my middle name is behind that shrub! From this day fourth I will be known as Homer … *moves shrub* … JAY Simpson!”
Do the Mariners have names on the uniform? It would be funny if they traded the existing Castillo, gave the new one the same number, updated the yearbook with new stats and photos.
His middle name is Felipe.
Thanks. I was wondering what the “F” was his middle name
Felipe
baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=cas…
If you’ve seen Ted 2 you can only guess what the F stands for. And if you haven’t and you like stoner comedy buddy films. I highly (pun intended) recommend watching it. Watch the first one then Ted 2. And if you have Peacock watch the prequel.
Logjammer D’Highbrow.
If you’re into stoner comedy, I would suggest the originals, Cheech and Chong. Have a film fest with their movies on VHS or listen to their records from the 70s.
Except you must challenge yourself — no dope so you can analyze the art properly.
Yes but I haven’t smoked weed for 7 days. Outta weed and I’m broke. Building my tolerance back up.
This is a deliberate attempt to confuse Jed Hoyer and try to trade him the wrong Luis Castillo for something on the Cubs. The sad part is it will probably work.
“FREE” that’s why they signed him!
Quit kidding yourself Mariner fans! This team has a zero chance of making the playoffs and winning the World Series! The Mariners have become the Miami Marlins of the West and ownership isn’t even trying to hide it! Their goal is making as much money as possible not fielding a competitive team! Until the fans take action and quit watching and attending the games nothing will change! Lowering attendance and the ratings on TV are the only ways we can impact ownership’s pocket book which is all he cares about!
Might be the first time we get a chance at 2 players with the same name on a roster, think last closest we got were the respective Austin Adams, one was pitching, and one was on waivers making them pitching together a theoretical possibility.
Mets had two pitchers named Bobby Jones like 25 years ago.
Didn’t the Mariners have two guys with the same name in 1990-91?
They did Martinez. Edgar and Tino
Clearly not the same name.
Same last name..and yes different first names
Clearly a dirty trick to confuse M’s fans into forgetting their lineup issues
Nope, haven’t forgotten the lineup issues.
We are going to secretly trade Luis Castillo for all salary relief and no players and then put Luis F(antastic) Castillo in the rotation
What’s the difference???
We all know this wouldn’t be news if they already didn’t have a Luis Castillo on their team. This isn’t even worth a half a paragraph worth of information. Mariners fans are truly sick and tired of the way this organization handles its business.
So now they have Castilli?
Need moar Luis Castillos
Moar?
The F stands for you want a bat? fuh·ged·da·boud·it.
Luis Castillo of the Marines, not be confused with Luis Castillo of the Mariners.
He played for Orix last year, but I’ll allow it
Luis Castillo of the mariner*
Leave it to the Ms. Can he play infield and hit?
Best pick up of the off-season, after the M’s trick the Red Sox into trading Tristan Casas for this guy.
The F stands for Frustrated Fans.
How did this guy not get a shot before going overseas? Good hr rates and k/w rates.
There’s Luis F. Castillo, and Luis M. Castillo, and also a Julio Y. Rodriguez, and a Julio E. Rodriguez. I know this is impossible because of how trades work, but that’d be funny if the Mariners make another team think they’re getting Julio Y. Rodriguez and Luis M. Castillo for like a super good player, and then Julio E. Rodriguez and Luis F. Castillo walk into their clubhouse one day, and they’re like “wait, who are you guys?” Another thing is you can trade the E and F versions, and temporarily trick fans. That’d be a hilarious prank! Could you imagine how many car accidents there would be involving people who listen to their local sports radio station?
What the F is this team doing?
Jerry, tomorrow, to every team in the league: Luis Castillo is on the block
Catalina F. Winemixer!
If Ms hit 54% this year, would that be considered like winning the world series?
If we get 88 wins it’s a successful season even if we miss the playoffs or flame out in the wild card
Certainly not overpowering stuff, but Woodward can do wonders. Having a guy capable of going multiple innings with a low walk rate is good enough for middle relief and could help manage the rotation’s bridge to build up innings early in the season. Good pick up. Low risk.
It’s too bad we can’t get the Luis Castillo who played 2B out of retirement to face both of these Luis Castillos!!
“Great Scott! If Luis Castillo starts and then there’s a pitching change and Luis Castillo comes in from the bullpen it could destroy the very fabric of the space-time continuum!”
This years roster has too many no names !!
The Seattle Mariners aren’t going anywhere with mediocre batters. They need to something about that.
I guess what’s most frustrating is that everyone across MLB and M’s fans know that the offense really struggled last season and to this point we have actually gotten worse than Better!!
Still holding out hope Go M’s