Max Castillo Had a Solid Debut With the Royals

In his first start as a member of the Royals, Castillo made a good first impression.

Look, Thursday's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays was an absolute dud for the Kansas City Royals. Looking on the bright side, however, pitcher Max Castillo had a good debut for the visiting club.

Castillo allowed one run and three hits through five innings of work in his third career start — his first in a Royals uniform. That is the longest start of Castillo's young career, one that saw him toss 69 pitches. Castillo's only run surrendered came via the long ball in the first inning, courtesy of Rays third baseman Yandy Diaz. After that, the Royals' No. 17 prospect didn't allow another hit until the top of the fourth inning. 

Max Castillo's line: 5ip, 3h, 1r, 1er, 1bb, 3k, 1hr, 69 pitches (48 strikes). #Royals

— Lynn Worthy (@LWorthySports) August 19, 2022

Castillo hardly overpowered Rays batters but managed to keep them on their toes with a very even three-pitch mix. He utilized his four-seam fastball, changeup and slider all at least 21 times. His three strikeouts came off his breaking pitches, while all three of the three Tampa Bay hits against him came on his fastball. Castillo's changeup baffles opposing batters and has done so since his days with the Toronto Blue Jays.

One concerning part of Castillo's debut (as well as his overall game) is his tendency to allow hard-hit balls. His 2022 hard-hit percentage as of Thursday night is 46.4%, nearly 11 points above the MLB average of 35.8%. That game fits nicely in Kauffman Stadium, but not in all MLB ball parks. While Castillo did allow seven hard-hit balls in his debut, most were groundouts or flyouts. The Diaz home run was the only hard-hit ball beyond the infield.

Overall, it is hard to be mad about Castillo's debut. The lack of run support and Brad Keller's atrocious seventh-inning performance will overshadow his start, unfortunately. Hopefully, though, Castillo will have more starting opportunities before the season is done. 

Castillo and infielder Samad Taylor were the Royals' return for trading away veteran utility man Whit Merrifield to the Blue Jays on Aug. 2. Both were sent straight to the minors, but Castillo joined the 40-man roster. This was a sensible choice, as he's a relatively young, mid-level prospect. Still only 23 years old, Castillo made his big-league debut on June 19 of this year. He had two starts for Toronto but appeared in nine total games before the trade, posting a 20/5 K/BB ratio with a 3.05 ERA over 20.2 innings pitched for the Blue Jays. 

Whether as a long-relief pitcher, opener, or something more, Castillo left a good first impression on the Royals. That's just about all the club could've asked for.