TAMPA, Fla. – One bad start is an outlier that can be tossed aside like spoiled food.
Two consecutive rough starts becomes something more than concerning. It is the start of a bad trend.
Three straight suboptimal starts is a problem that should be at least discussed, if not addressed.
And after four consecutive outings of poor pitching from a starter?
Well, it will be interesting to see what the Seattle Mariners do with Luis Castillo. Though realistically, there isn’t much they can do but hope for something better in his next outing, which would be Sunday’s series finale in Atlanta.
The struggles for the veteran right-hander continued in the sticky Monday evening heat of George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Castillo produced yet another short, inefficient and ineffective performance, nearly destroying any potential victory hopes for the Mariners in the first three innings in what would eventually be a 10-2 pasting from the Tampa Bay Rays.
“Tough one tonight,” manager Dan Wilson said in an almost verbal reflex. “This is a situation where we’ve got to bounce back tomorrow and come back and get Game 2.”
With the loss and the Houston Astros’ win earlier in the day over the Angels, Seattle (73-65) fell three games behind Houston (76-62) in the American League West Division standings.
The Mariners have now lost 14 of their past 20 road games, including eight of their past 12.
“This time of year, there’s fatigue, but everybody’s got it,” Wilson said. “This is the time of year we all play for, and being in this stretch run is what we’re excited about. You’ve got to find a way.”
While each loss stings a little more with in the season’s final month, seeing Castillo give up hard-hit balls all over the field and struggle to get outs for this four-start stretch seems worse.
The Mariners aren’t in a position to make changes to their rotation. They need Castillo to somehow figure it out before he takes the mound again.
“We’ll take a look at it here and we’ll take a look at his side session and keep working on it,” Wilson said. “It was good to see the velocity was back tonight and he made some good breaking pitches too. They just took advantage of opportunities that they had.”
Castillo had to work to somehow make it through four innings, giving up five runs on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
In a recurring theme during the Mariners’ road woes, they allowed multiple runs with two outs. After retiring the first two batters in the second inning, Castillo gave up an unlucky infield hit to Jake Mangum.
But he made the situation worse by walking Richie Palacios on four pitches. Light-hitting Nick Fortes, who came into the game batting .212 with four homers on the year, clubbed a ball over the wall in left-center field for a three-run homer and a 3-0 Rays lead. Yes, it was a 95-mph fastball above the strike zone, but Castillo had also fallen behind 2-0 to start the at-bat.
Tampa Bay picked up two more runs in the third. Castillo gave up an RBI double to Brandon Lowe and a run-scoring single to Junior Caminero.
He was able to get through the fourth without allowing any further damage. But his night was done.
The Mariners are 1-3 in Castillo’s last four starts, none of which lasted more than five innings. Over that span, he’s pitched a combined 17 innings, allowing 19 runs on 30 hits with seven walks and 18 strikeouts. That’s a 10.06 ERA. Opponents are batting .390 against Castillo over those games with 30 hits in 77 at-bats.
“I’m not frustrated, but I knows I’m going through tough times right now,” Castillo said through bench coach Manny Acta. “It happens in the game. Sometimes you go through tough times and then you have to wait for the good ones and keep working.”
How did he get through those tough times?
“I haven’t changed anything,” Castillo said. “I just continued to work, and it’s waiting for the good times, because you’re not always going to have bad times.”
They can’t option Castillo to Triple-A Tacoma to get him right. They certainly won’t designate him for assignment. With Emerson Hancock converted to a reliever and Logan Evans on the injured list, their next best starting option is either lefty Jhonathan Diaz or right-hander Casey Lawrence in Tacoma.
“Luis has been a guy that we’ve been able to depend on, and we still depend on him,” Wilson said. “He’s going to figure it out. He’s a guy that we love sending him out there because he’s been in these situations, he knows what to do. We’ve gotta keep going with it.”
With an off day Thursday, they could reshuffle the rotation slightly to get him an extra day of rest. They could perhaps put him on the injured list if he is dealing with something health-wise though he’s been steadfast that he feels fine physically.
But something isn’t right. The Mariners initially believed that Castillo’s struggles were the result of three consecutive starts on four days rest. The fatigue led to mechanical issues that decreased his velocity and stuff while leading to command issues, He’s had similar periods of sluggishness in his previous two seasons.
Meanwhile, the Mariners offense was largely non-existent and mildly self-destructive against Rays starter Shane Baz.
He pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Seattle’s two runs came in the ninth inning. Leo Rivas, who was called-up from Triple-A Tacoma earlier in the day with MLB roster expanding, smashed a two-run homer to right field. It was the first homer in his MLB career.
Ford called up in roster moves
With major-league rosters expanding to 28 on Monday, the Mariners made a series of moves before facing the Rays.
The moves were significant: The Mariners called up Harry Ford, one of their top prospects, while also releasing veteran bench player Donovan Solano. Seattle can only have 27 players active for the three-game series in Tampa due to Victor Robles’ seven-game suspension.
The moves:
• Ford, C, selected from Triple-A Tacoma;
• Luke Jackson, RHP, selected from Triple-A Tacoma;
• Leo Rivas, INF, recalled from Triple-A Tacoma;
• Sauryn Lao, RHP, designated for assignment; and
• Solano, INF, released from roster.
Ford will give the Mariners three catchers on their roster, which is useful since Seattle has been playing Cal Raleigh and Mitch Garver in the lineup against left-handed starting pitchers.
A first-round pick in 2021, Ford has been one of Seattle’s top prospects since being drafted. He is currently rated the No. 40 prospect in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100. In 97 games with Triple-A Tacoma this season, he posted a .283/.408/.460 slash line with 18 doubles, 16 homers, 74 RBI, 74 walks and seven stolen bases.