Cincinnati Reds turn to rookie Luis Castillo to stabilize rotation

The Cincinnati Reds are running out of starting pitchers yet one more time in this marathon season.

The Cincinnati Reds continue to go through pitchers the way most teams go through baseballs.  The latest pitcher to suffer an injury is Opening Day starter Scott Feldman.  As he gets ready for the DL, the Reds turn to Luis Castillo to stabilize the rotation.

The current rotation consists of a recovering Homer Bailey, a fading Tim Adleman, an unknown Sal Romano, an uneven Asher Wojciechowski, and the talented Castillo.  Now, Romano and Bailey are both surely talented.  Wojciechowski and Adleman, not as much.

Adleman is a number five starter and Wojciechowski is the definition of a replacement level pitcher.  Bailey is a recovering ace.  He could be the man again at some point.

Want your voice heard? Join the Blog Red Machine team!

Write for us!

That leaves the talented rookies in Romano and Castillo.  Romano has started two games and was downright OK.  Castillo, though, has started five games and looks like the real deal.

There is a ton of talent down in the Louisville rotation.  One could argue that the rotation there is in better shape than the one in Cincinnati.  Then again, with the exception of Tyler Mahle, every member of that rotation has had his shot at the rotation in Cincinnati.

Luis Castillo is the real deal for the Cincinnati Reds, but may not be ready to lead the staff for the rest of 2017.

More from Reds News

• Reds: TJ Friedl should start in center field for the remainder of 2021
• Reds: Luis Castillo shows why he should start potential Wild Card Game
• Reds roster demands Jesse Winker starts in center field tonight
• Reds vs. Dodgers: Pitching preview, prediction, and more
• Reds: The insurmountable task of overcoming Jesse Winker’s absence

Revisiting the current rotation, the starters have the following number of starts from most to least: 16, 5, 5, 4, and 2.  The DL will have more starts than the current rotation with Feldman there.  That’s how the Reds end up looking to Castillo.

Castillo might pull this off, though.  He averages nearly six innings per start.  He also allows less than a hit per inning.

If Castillo can get the walk rate down, he can go any further in the games.  If Castillo can get his home run rate down, he could become an elite starter.

Right now a few too many walks and home runs is all that is holding him back.

Castillo is only 24 and only made his MLB debut this season.  He didn’t even become a starting pitcher until 2015.  Given that, his rise has been meteoric.

Next: The Reds shutdown Brandon Finnegan for 2017

The Reds haven’t really had a true ace in the rotation all season long.  Every time it seems like they do he gets injured, blown up, or just fades away.  A sign of this is that the closest thing that the Reds have to an ace right now is a 24-year old that they acquired in a trade for a waiver wire pick up over the off-season.