Mariners' Luis Castillo's Statcast numbers make his problems look long-term
These aren't encouraging metrics.
Mariners' Luis Castillo's Statcast numbers make his problems look long-term originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Luis Castillo has been a reliable starting pitcher in MLB for a long time between the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners .
That time might be coming to an end this season for the Mariners, though. "While Castillo finished 2025 with a 3. 54 ERA over 32 starts, we saw signs of cracks forming in the foundations as his whiff, strikeout and barrel rates all regressed to career-worst levels," MLB.
com's Thomas Harrigan wrote in a new article this weekend. "Those key metrics have continued to trend in the wrong direction this year, contributing to a 6. 35 ERA through seven starts.
That would be concerning for any pitcher, much less a 33-year-old who put a lot of mileage on his arm from 2018-25 (1,321 1/3 IP). " MORE: Kazuma Okamoto blamed a quesadilla for a missed opportunity Let's dig into some of those key metrics that Harrigan references. Castillo gives up some of the hardest contact in the game -- he ranks in the eighth percentile for average exit velocity, giving up contact at an average of 91.