On May 18, Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo struck out 11 batters in five innings against the San Francisco Giants. According to Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson, that wasn’t the game when Luis Castillo’s mid-season turnaround began.
That turnaround started 11 days later, when Castillo allowed two earned runs in five innings in a loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Entering that start, Castillo had a 7.61 ERA. Since that start on May 29, Castillo has a 1.96 ERA.
Over the past 30 days, Castillo has the fifth-lowest ERA among all qualifying pitchers in MLB.
“You’re talking about pitch selection, you’re talking about where he’s trying to throw his pitches and how he’s executing as well as maybe some mechanical things, too,” Johnson said. “We had a lot going on for a while, but it settled in since then.”
During his first eight starts of the season, Castillo had the worst eight-game stretch of his career. The Reds were 1-7 in games Castillo started, and he allowed an average of seven hits and five runs per start. Before May 18, Castillo only pitched into the sixth inning twice.
“He had some bad luck,” Johnson said. “Some guys were talking about the (batting average on balls in play) being really high, and we made some errors behind him or whatever the circumstance was that led to him not pitching very well. I felt like it kind of started to even out a little bit then.”
During that start against the Cubs, in a game the Reds lost 10-2, Castillo threw all four of his pitches more evenly than he had early this season. At certain points in the season, Castillo was more reliant on his change-up. For example, against the Giants, Castillo threw 26 change-ups and 25 fastballs.
Against the Cubs, Castillo threw 31 fastballs and just 18 change-ups. His change-up was still effective in that game, and Castillo only allowed one hit with that pitch in Chicago. But Castillo’s fastball was even better.
Castillo’s fastball has been his best pitch since then, and he has started to hit 100 mph on the radar gun.
“The (velocity) on it has picked up for sure a little bit, it seems like all of his stuff has picked up a notch,” Johnson said. “The fastball has picked up a little bit higher, but so has the change-up and the slider. ... I’m glad he has made progress. I’m obviously cautiously optimistic about where he’s headed. At the same time, we’ve got a lot of season left.”
NAQUIN’S WRIST: Reds center fielder Tyler Naquin hasn’t been in the starting lineup since Sunday as he deals with a sore wrist.
In each of the past two games, the Reds passed on opportunities to put Naquin in the game. On Monday, pitcher Tony Santillan pinch-hit with Naquin on the bench. On Tuesday, Naquin didn’t start against a right-handed pitcher, and catcher Tucker Barnhart pinch-hit with Naquin on the bench.
According to Reds Manager David Bell, Naquin felt the injury during his last at-bat on Sunday. Naquin has had a previous injury in a similar part of his hand, but an X-ray showed “nothing major going on.”
FUTURES GAME: Reds pitching prospect Nick Lodolo will represent the organization in the 2021 All-Star Futures Game on Sunday, July 11, at Coors Field in Colorado.
Lodolo is the top-rated prospect in the Reds' farm system, according to MLB Pipeline, and the Reds' 2019 first-round MLB Draft pick has a 0.90 ERA in six starts this season with the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts.
CALLED UP: Shortstop prospect Jose Barrero, the top infield prospect in the Reds' organization, was called up to Triple-A on Tuesday.
In 2020, Barrero made the jump from A-Ball to the Reds' MLB roster, and he hit .194 in the big leagues. He began the 2021 season in Double-A and had a .300 batting average with 16 extra-base hits and 28 RBI in 40 games.
Barrero debuted on Tuesday with the Louisville Bats, and he was 1 of 3 with a walk and a run scored.
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