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Mariners' Luis Castillo: Opening season as fifth starter
Rotowire
Castillo is slated to make his first start during the Mariners' fifth game of the season Monday versus the Yankees at T-Mobile Park, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports.
Emerson Hancock is the Mariners' de facto fifth starter while stepping into the rotation in place of the injured Bryce Miller (oblique), but he'll end up taking the hill for Seattle's fourth game Sunday versus Cleveland while Castillo moves to the back of the schedule. The rotation setup is likely just a means to get Castillo some extra rest after he started the Mariners' spring training finale Monday in San Diego. Castillo covered five innings and tossed 76 pitches in that outing, so he should be ready to handle a relatively normal workload in his 2026 debut.
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Mariners' Luis Castillo: Strong finish to spring slate
Rotowire
Castillo allowed one run on four hits and a walk while striking out five across five innings in Monday's matchup with the Padres.
Castillo finished Cactus League play on a high note, allowing three runs over nine innings in his final two outings. It's certainly an encouraging development after the right-hander struggled to a 27.00 ERA in his first three appearances (six innings). Castillo, who's posted a sub-4.00 ERA in each of his last seven seasons, made a team-high 32 regular-season starts in 2025, finishing with a 3.54 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 162:46 K:BB across 180.2 innings.
Castillo (1-1) allowed three earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out one across 2.1 innings to take the loss in Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday.
Castillo got through two innings unscathed, but he allowed five of the first six hitters he faced in the third frame to reach base before being pulled. This was Castillo's first stumble of the postseason, as he had previously thrown six scoreless innings across two appearances in the ALDS. He has a less impressive 5:5 K:BB, but he has largely been a reliable arm for Seattle.
Mariners' Luis Castillo: Walks four in no-decision
Rotowire
Castillo did not factor into the decision in Sunday's win over the Tigers in Game 2 of the American League Division Series. He allowed one hit and four walks while striking out three over 4.2 scoreless innings.
The veteran right-hander matched his single-game high this season with the four free passes -- a number he reached only once during the regular season -- but he was effective nonetheless. Castillo recorded 13 swings-and-misses on 85 pitches and hung zeros, affording his team enough time to eventually win the game and even the series at one game apiece. His dominance has waned a bit in recent years, but Castillo is still an incredibly valuable piece of the Seattle rotation.
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