Is Diego Castillo The Closer?

Before arriving in Seattle, Diego Castillo was one of the top relievers in baseball and was having another outstanding year in Tampa Bay.



For ERA aficionados, he posted a 2.72 ERA with the Rays and a 2.86 ERA with the Mariners. This is a negligible difference, especially for a reliever who has significantly fewer innings than a starter.

Diego Castillo
Diego Castillo

In Seattle, his ERA+, a league-adjusted figure in which 100 represents the league average, was one point higher. 147, vs 146 in Tampa.



Diego Castillo remains an excellent reliever. In 36 innings with the Rays, he was worth 0.7 WAR, while in 22 innings with the Mariners, he was worth 0.4 WAR.

Castillo was nevertheless quite valuable when compared to Yohan Ramirez, who was worth 0.3 WAR in just over 27 innings.

Castillo was likewise traded from one region of the country to another. Any human would find it difficult to acclimatize to that situation right away.

For the entire 2021 season, his advanced numbers are still highly excellent. His xERA (Expected ERA) and K rate were both in the 93rd percentile.

The 92nd percentile of his xBA (expected batting average against) His chase rate, on the other hand, was in the 94th percentile.

All of his numbers on Baseball Savant are in some of the darkest red tones. Diego Castillo’s wipeout slider, which he throws 66 percent of the time, gets a lot of swings and misses.

To contrast his slider, he also throws a sinking fastball.

 

Is Diego Castillo The Closer?

Diego Castillo isn’t pitching in the closer role like he used to, but he still has a 2.57 ERA.