Luis Castillo tagged for five runs in relief

There’s a lot to unpack here. According to Mariners general manager Justin Hollander, it was a unanimous decision by all six starters — Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Emerson Hancock, Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo — to move to a schedule where each pitcher will rotate through and have piggyback days. Ironically, the arrangement will begin with Castillo piggybacking out of the bullpen with Miller during Friday’s series opener against the Red Sox. The decision will have a significant fantasy impact simply by reducing the overall volume for each starter over the next few weeks. The unorthodox arrangement feels like a temporary stopgap solution until the arrival of top prospects Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan later this summer ultimately forces Seattle to move on from at least one of their veteran arms.

After a runner reached on an error in the first inning, Castillo gave up three straight two-out hits to bring three runs in for the Nationals, all unearned. He settled in to toss three more scoreless innings before Luis García Jr. got to him with a two-run homer in the fifth. Castillo recorded two outs in the sixth and departed with two runners on at 84 pitches with four strikeouts. The 33-year-old right-hander will take a 5.00 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and a 65/25 K/BB ratio across 66 2/3 innings into a start against the Red Sox in Seattle next Saturday.

Castillo punched out five opposing hitters in the ballgame while issuing only one base on balls. The lone tally against him came on a solo homer off the bat of Kevin McGonigle in the fourth inning. Aside from that, the 33-year-old hurler was brilliant. He generated 12 swings and misses on 100 pitches on the day, posting a CSW of 22 percent. He exited with a comfortable 4-1 advantage and in line for a win, but the Mariners’ bullpen couldn’t hang onto it for him. He’ll bring a 5.16 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and a 61/23 K/BB ratio (61 innings) into Saturday’s matchup against the Nationals in Washington.

Castillo expressed some frustration with the piggyback situation following his last outing against the Athletics where he threw 68 pitches over four shutout frames. Miller has voiced similar displeasure with the situation as well. However, the bizarre arrangement has worked for the Mariners from a results standpoint with Castillo and Miller combining to limit the Athletics to just a pair of runs over nine innings their last time out. It’s possible the pair’s reluctance to pitch in relief will lead to Seattle changing their roles. It’ll be Miller opening the contest with Castillo following on Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.

Castillo had thrown just 68 pitches and was one inning away from a win in 7-0 game, so he was none too happy about being lifted. Still, this is the arrangement the Mariners are using, with Castillo and Bryce Miller piggybacking. Something will give eventually, but at least both pitched well in a 9-2 win tonight. Castillo’s ERA dropped from 6.41 to 5.90. He’ll likely pitch again Sunday against the D-backs.

Bryce Miller will work behind him in a piggyback role. It’s the reverse of what we saw the last time these two took the mound, where Miller started against the White Sox on Tuesday and Castillo followed with another miserable outing to blow his lead. Miller is the only one out of the duo that should be utilized for fantasy purposes.

Miller was lights out against the White Sox on Tuesday, holding them scoreless into the sixth. He allowed just one hit and walked one batter, tossing 50 of 72 pitches for strikes while generating 13 whiffs to strike out seven. Luis Castillo followed Miller as planned and pitched two scoreless innings before allowing two runners to reach in the ninth, eventually blowing the win for Miller and taking the loss. The 27-year-old right-hander has been excellent over his first two starts back from the injured list, giving up two runs with a 10/2 K/BB ratio over 11 frames. He’ll look to keep it going on Monday in Sacramento against the Athletics.

Miller and Castillo will work in tandem instead of Seattle shifting to a six-man rotation. It’s going to look and feel a bit different, but this type of arrangement makes the most sense for the Mariners moving forward. Miller figures to gobble up most of the innings as a traditional starter before turning things over to Castillo for a long relief outing. Wilson also mentioned possibly going to a reliever before Castillo, which is a fun wrinkle. Get the popcorn ready.

Instead of sticking with the six-man rotation, both Miller and Castillo will work multiple innings in the middle game of the three-game set against Chicago. What hasn’t been announced yet is who will start that game, and assuming the starter doesn’t go five innings, that hurler won’t be eligible for a win. The Mariners could move back to the six-man rotation in the coming days/weeks, but for now, it appears the two will be piggybacking.

With his velocity up about one mph from his season average, Castillo limited the damage to a Yordan Alvarez solo homer through five, but he gave up a two-run double to Braden Shewmake before exiting in the sixth. Castillo moved to 1-4 with a 6.34 ERA in nine starts. He’s supposed to piggyback with Bryce Miller next time through, but we don’t yet know what form that will take. That outing against the White Sox is scheduled for Tuesday.