Luis Castillo (pitcher)


Luis Miguel Castillo is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball. He made his MLB debut in 2017.

Career

San Francisco Giants

Castillo signed with the San Francisco Giants as an international free agent in December 2011. He made his professional debut in 2012 with the DSL Giants and spent the whole season there, going 1–3 with a 3.31 ERA in 54.1 relief innings pitched. In 2013, he returned there, going 0–1 with a 0.64 ERA in 27 relief appearances, and in 2014, he played for the Augusta GreenJackets where he pitched to a 2–2 record and 3.07 ERA in 48 relief appearances.

Miami Marlins

On December 20, 2014, Castillo along with Kendry Flores were traded to the Miami Marlins for Casey McGehee. He spent 2015 with the Greensboro Grasshoppers and was promoted to the Jupiter Hammerheads in July. In 35 games between the two teams, he was 6–6 with a 3.20 ERA.
Castillo began 2016 with Jupiter and was promoted to the Jacksonville Suns during the season. On July 29, 2016, the Marlins traded Castillo along with Jarred Cosart, Josh Naylor and Carter Capps to the San Diego Padres for Andrew Cashner, Colin Rea and Tayron Guerrero. He was returned to Marlins after Rea suffered an injury in his first start and was returned to the Padres. The Marlins added him to their 40-man roster after the season. In 26 games between Jupiter and Jacksonville, he was 8–6 with a 2.26 ERA.

Cincinnati Reds

On January 19, 2017, the Marlins traded Castillo, Austin Brice, and Isaiah White to the Cincinnati Reds for Dan Straily. He began 2017 with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
Castillo made his major league debut on June 23, 2017 against the Washington Nationals. In 14 starts for Pensacola prior to his call-up he compiled a 4–4 record and 2.58 ERA. Castillo spent the remainder of the season with the Reds after his promotion, going 3–7 with a 3.12 ERA in 15 starts. He began 2018 in Cincinnati's starting rotation. In 31 starts for the Reds, he posted a record of 10–12 with an ERA of 4.30 in innings.
On March 19, 2019, Castillo was named the Reds' starter for Opening Day on March 28 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. During the season, he posted a 15–8 record with a 3.40 ERA and 226 strikeouts and was named to his first All-Star Game.

Pitching style

Like his idol, Pedro Martinez, Castillo is a low 3/4 pitcher, but features one of the top changeups in the Major Leagues, to go along with an upper 90s mph fastball and a slider. He according to Statcast uses four-seamer and slider against left-handers, while using 2-seamers and changeups against right-handers as strikeout pitches.