Cincinnati Reds Luis Castillo has rough first start in 2018

The Cincinnati Reds held Luis Castillo back until game two, but it was still rough.

The Cincinnati Reds didn’t want to put the pressure of an Opening Day start on Luis Castillo.  Instead, the honor went to veteran Homer Bailey.  Unfortunately, Castillo still had a rough first start in 2018.

Castillo struggled through five innings, allowing six runs that were all earned.  He took the loss and ended up with a 10.80 ERA.  He only gave up six hits, but two of them were home runs.

The good news is that Castillo only walked one while striking out six.  His batting average against was .316 resulting in a WHIP of 1.40.  He threw 85 pitches to the Washington Nationals, so even without the high scoring output he had less than an inning left.

The game got off to a bad start for Castillo as three of the first four batters reached base.  First baseman Matt Adams batted fourth and hit a three run home run.  In the third inning right fielder Bryce Harper drove in lead-off batter Adam Eaton in for the fourth run of the game.

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The game was effectively over at that point.  The Reds ended up losing 13-7.  They valiantly tried to come back, but never put true pressure on the Nationals.

Luis Castillo should pitch much better for the Cincinnati Reds the rest of the season.

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The general consensus is that Castillo is a .500 pitcher on this version of the Reds.  He is only expected to make 25-28 starts as the Reds have a recent history of shutting pitchers down early.  Castillo, of course, could be an exception, as he was the only healthy starter the second half of 2017.

His ERA will probably raise to about 4.00 after finishing last season at 3.12.  Of course, he will probably also maintain about an even ratio between innings pitched and strikeouts.  His home run rate will likely raise too.

The thing that the Reds are mostly interested in, though, is innings pitched.

Castillo may not be the workhouse this season, but there is no reason that he won’t end up at about 150 innings.  That would have led the team by a wide margin last season.

Castillo is the ace right now.  He just didn’t pitch like it last time out.  He is still a rookie, after all.

Next: After all that, Cody Reed is somehow fifth starter

Patience is key with this group of Reds.  They are younger and have less experience than more other teams in MLB.  Of course, the only way to get experience is to play games at the major league level.