Luis Castillo has been worth every penny

Luis Castillo gave the Seattle Mariners seven strong Tuesday night in a much needed victory over the A's. He has been worth every asset and penny Seattle spent to acquire and retain him.

Kevin Clark/Seattle Times

Luis Castillo gave the Mariners a much-needed dominant outing on Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum to secure the 83rd win of the season for Seattle. He also secured his 200th strikeout on the season, a tremendous all-around campaign for the 2023 All-Star.

The Castillo deal sparked a shift in the Mariners’ aggressiveness towards building a roster that could compete for the AL West and a World Series. As he has shown repeatedly, he was worth every asset and penny spent.

When the trade happened it was obviously an exciting time in Seattle and around the league, as one of the best starters in the National League was changing teams mid-season. The trade was also framed as a hefty price to pay for Seattle, giving up “three top five prospects” in return for the 30-year-old starter.

In reality, the Mariners gave up an overperforming minor league shortstop, a starting pitcher with serious reliever risk, and an extremely talented hitter with zero chance of sticking at shortstop. As it turns out, Seattle was correct in their evaluation.

Edwin Arroyo is a solid defender who is still young and has a chance to be a good player but has posted just a .757 OPS this season. Levi Stoudt was never really a top prospect in the Mariners system, although it was framed that way by the national media. He has an ERA above 6 in the minor leagues this season. Noelvi Marte has a chance to be a legitimately excellent player but likely ends up at a corner outfield spot or third base.

Jerry Dipoto, Justin Hollander, and the Seattle front office were able to capitalize on the value of these players to get a legitimate front-line major league starter.

It was clear that adding Castillo was a huge boost to this team and the rotation down the stretch in 2022, but especially in October. You could make a solid argument he was the best pitcher in the playoffs last season.

He was dominant against Toronto and then showed up in a big way in a road start against the Houston Astros. Manager Scott Servais has said many times that “La Piedra” is everything you could want in a starting pitcher. The 30-year-old is cool, calm, and collected at all times, along with being downright nasty.

While he isn’t a true ace, he is a number one starting pitcher and the leader of one of the best pitching staffs in major league baseball. His 2023 has justified the contract extension Seattle gave him, posting a 3.06 ERA across 31 starts to go with 207 strikeouts thus far.

There is a good chance Castillo finishes in the top 3 of AL Cy Young voting this season and has an opportunity to help pitch his team into the playoffs once again.

On Tuesday night “La Piedra” took the ball for the Mariners once again, and while he didn’t have his best stuff, he was able to dominate for seven innings of two-run ball. He did exactly what you acquired him to do, and has really done it all year long. Castillo can win the big games, win the games you are supposed to win, and take the ball in October.

Seattle will need Luis Castillo to perform in his final two starts of the 2023 campaign to help the club secure a postseason spot. You should feel confident he can do so, because after all this is exactly what you acquired him to do.

Luis Castillo has been, and will continue to be worth every penny. GOMS.