Luis Castillo of Seattle Mariners Has "Taken a Little Bit of a Step Back" to Some Teams
The Seattle Mariners will open up the 2025 regular season just one week from today when they host the Athletics at T-Mobile Park.
The Mariners, coming off an 85-77 season, have high expectations and are looking to win their first division crown since 2001.
We don't know yet how the final roster will shape up for Opening Day, but we do know that ace pitcher Logan Gilbert will be on the mound. While that's not surprising given that Gilbert made an All-Star appearance last year, it is noteworthy since Luis Castillo has made that start each of the last two seasons.
ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney joined the most recent edition of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast and discussed the decision, while also offering an interesting nugget into how Castillo is viewed around the league now.
"Logan Gilbert was so good last year. And Luis Castillo, while he has an amazing history and he's very respected as a starter throughout the industry, the fact is that Logan Gilbert was significantly better than Luis Castillo was last year. And that reality was reinforced during the wintertime when I know that the Mariners were sort of willing to listen to offers for Castillo, the feedback I got from a lot of teams was, 'Yeah, he's taken a little bit of a step back in terms of what his performance is,' and maybe that reflects the thinking of Dan Wilson and the front office in making this choice."
Gilbert went 9-12 last season with a 3.23 ERA, leading baseball in innings pitched (208.2). Castillo was 11-12 with a 3.64 over 30 starts.
You can hear the full interview with Buster Olney HERE:
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