January 19, 2017. I sit in a half-empty classroom during my senior year of high school. An alert pops up on my phone “Reds trade Dan Straily to Marlins.”
In hindsight, it was a miracle how the Reds ended up turning Straily into much of a return at all, but a 24-year-old from Bani, Dominican Republic made this an easy win for the Reds.
Luis Castillo came up in June of 2017 and was instant appointment television during an all too familiar lost season for the Reds. In his debut, He struck out five over five innings of two-run baseball in DC. From the get-go, he had the fastball-changeup combination that fooled hitters. The aforementioned fastball could be classified as “easy gas.”
The inconsistencies of his first full season in 2018 weren’t unsurprising. It took the likes of Cueto, Soto, and Rijo a few years to find their way. He finished on a positive note, posting a 1.09 ERA in 33 innings over his final five starts.
The stage was set for a breakout 2019. You can’t convince there was a better pitcher in the National League for the first three months. He earned his way to an All-star appearance, where Alex Bregman said his changeup was “unhittable.” Not sure if he meant with or without the trash can. Castillo struggled during the second half of the season, but he still ended 2019 with a 3.40 ERA, 3.70 FIP, and 226 strikeouts in 190.2 innings pitched.
In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he was a big reason why the Reds had one of the best rotations in baseball. His September start in St. Louis where he threw a complete game and only allowed one run was a turning point in what had been a disappointing season for the team. He followed that start up with seven shutout innings in a 1-0 win over the Pirates. He was also excellent in his lone start in the postseason with the Reds against the Braves.
Castillo was dreadful to start the 2021 season, giving up 42 earned runs over 52.1 innings in his first 11 starts. When the calendar flipped to June, he was the pitcher that Reds fans were accustomed to seeing.
Over his last 22 starts of 2021, he had a 2.73 ERA over 135.1 IP with 144 strikeouts and a .225 opponent batting average.
One of my favorite starts was watching him punch out 10 Dodgers and outduel Walker Buehler in September when the Reds still had playoff aspirations (Sigh).
This leads us to this season, an injury sidelined him for the first month, but once he was healthy, Louie was in 2019-form. A 2.77 ERA over 78 innings paved the way to a second All-star appearance.
He has dominated pretty much every lineup thrown his way this year. He toyed with Boston. He was in cruise control against the Braves. The Rays provided no challenge. And even the Yankees, the best team in baseball, didn’t have a chance.
The Reds have had plenty of good pitchers over the years, but when Castillo toed the rubber it felt different. You expected to win and unfortunately, the Reds didn’t have very many of those during his starts. Nonetheless, “La Piedra” did his part more often than not.
It is a shame Castillo didn’t get to pitch in as many meaningful games. There’s no doubt that when he gets a chance to pitch in a playoff atmosphere, he will rise to the occasion.
I don’t want it to be this way. I want Luis Castillo to be a Red forever, but this is where we are and it feels entirely inevitable.
Thank you, Louie. Now go get yourself a ring.
Featured image credit: redbirdrants.com
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