Brady's Spin: The Mariners Pitched Too Scared Against Cleveland

Look, there's a difference between pitching smart and pitching scared. On Thursday, in a loss to the Cleveland Guardians, the Mariners were on the wrong side of it.

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo (58) is pictured in the dugout during a game against the Kansas City Royals at T-Mobile Park on May 13. / Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports

In pitching, there's a fine line between pitching smart and pitching scared and on Thursday, the Seattle Mariners were on the wrong side of it.

Look, I understand what the gameplan was. The Cleveland Guardians make contact, they rarely strike out, it's hard to just pump fastballs by them. So, what's the opposite of that? Throwing a ton of changeups, breaking balls and trying to induce weak contact and hoping they get themselves out.

And that just may be necessary if you're former M's standout Marco Gonzales, who throws 91 MPH tops but that doesn't need to be the plan if you're Luis Castillo or Ryne Stanek, who throw anywhere between 97 and 99.

Yet on Thursday, the M's continuously pitched backwards, especially Castillo, and they were made to pay for it dearly in a 6-3 loss.

Let me throw this data at you from Baseball Savant, wtih regards to Castillo.

I am putting this out for the purpose of an article that I'm writing right now, and I can't wait for you to see it.#TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/qNXadVEBbI

— Brady Farkas (@WDEVRadioBrady) June 21, 2024

For the season, including Thursday, Castillo throws his four-seam fastball 44.9 percent of the time and his changeup 15.2 percent of the time. On Thursday vs. Cleveland, he threw his four-seam 29 percent of the time and his changeup 29 percent of the time. And that clear difference may have worked if Castillo had had his changeup working, but he clearly didn't.

He hung it on a first-inning double to Steven Kwan. He hung it on a single to Andres Gimenez after that and on a homer to Gimenez in the pivotal fifth inning. He also couldn't control it while walking Kwan in the fifth before the Gimenez homer. It was evident from the first batter than he couldn't locate it where he wanted to.

I don't blame Castillo and I don't blame catcher Mitch Garver. I blame baseball people for deciding that following a scouting report is more important than recognizing what a pitcher does best and what is working best for him that day. Castillo's changeup now has a .352 batting average against it this year, as opposed to his four-seam, which is .201, but the M's decided that pitching nervously and away from the fastball was the way to go against Cleveland, despite that Castillo has great success with it and not with his changeup.

Pitchers are supposed to dictate at-bats and utilize their strengths, and the M's allowed Cleveland to dictate things and put Castillo in poor situations. At some point you need to just remember that Luis Castillo is really good and to let him do the things he does best.

And as a side note, in just one inning, Stanek threw 13 pitches (out of 25) that were not his trademark fastball. I can appreciate Stanek adding to his repertorie and diversifying his pitch mix, but more than 50 percent non-fastballs from a guy who can hit 100 seems..... scared. Stanek throws 58 percent four-seamers for the year, but yet again, there was a big deviation.

Here's hoping this weekend against the Miami Marlins that the Mariners remember what they do best: attack the zone, get ahead in counts, and pitch to their strengths.

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