The Chicago White Sox acquired Luis Castillo at the trade deadline hoping he would boost their standing in the race for the AL Central.
They got a glimpse of what they were hoping for Wednesday night in his second start for the team. Castillo allowed one hit and struck out 10 in a 5-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
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The outing marked a return to form for the 33-year-old three-time All-Star, who was in the midst of his worst MLB season before the Mariners traded him to the White Sox on Aug. 2.
This is the Luis Castillo the White Sox were hoping for when they acquired him from the Mariners at the trade deadline.
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / REUTERS)
Castillo joined Chicago with a 5.06 ERA and 1.395 WHIP with 86 strikeouts and 32 walks in 99 2/3 innings. His worst ERA over the course of a full season was 4.30 in 2018. That was the only season of his career in which is ERA eclipsed 3.98.
It was more of the same in his White Sox debut on Aug. 6. Castillo allowed 5 earned runs in 4 innings in a 12-11 loss to the Red Sox.
But he found is groove against Cincinnati. Castillo stuck out two Reds in the top of the first and allowed a one-out single to Sal Stewart. He didn’t give up another hit in seven total innings of work.
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Castillo strikes out side to end his night
When his night was done, Castillo had recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts. He sat down JJ Bleday, Eugenio Suárez and Michael Toglia in order in the seventh inning, all via swinging third strikes, including a nasty changeup that fooled Toglia to finish his night.
For the night, he allowed 1 hit, 2 walks and 0 runs while striking out 10. It was the kind of stuff that made Castillo an All-Star in 2019, 2022 and 2023.
Should the White Sox expect this moving forward? That seems unreasonable. But they can reasonably hope that Castillo improves from his rough start with a change of scenery, and Wednesday night demonstrated the top of his range of outcomes.
With the win, the White Sox improved to 62-57 to remain 3.5 games ahead of the second-place Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.
