Luis Castillo (castilu03)

Luis Felipe Castillo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 212 lb.

• Debut August 6, 2022

• Born March 10, 1995 in Fantino, Sánchez Ramírez D.R.

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Biographical Information

Luis Castillo has pitched for the Dominican national team and in the Olympics before making his major league debut in 2022.

He was signed by Arizona Diamondbacks scouts Luis Báez and Junior Noboa in February 2012. He had an inauspicious debut, going 0-9 with a 4.48 ERA for the DSL Diamondbacks/Reds that year and leading the Dominican Summer League in losses. He improved to 4-4, 3.58 for the '13 DSL Diamondbacks. Moving up to the US, he had a 3-3, 4.40 record and two saves for the 2014 AZL Diamondbacks, walking only 7 in 43 innings but giving up 57 hits. He saw limited action for the same club a year later (2-0, Sv, 1.93 in 11 G).

In 2016, he was with the Missoula Osprey, going 0-3 with a 4.04 ERA and striking out 38 in 35 2/3 IP. He pitched for the 2017 Hillsboro Hops (1-0, Sv, 2.91, 35 K in 34 IP). He finally made it to full-season ball in his seventh season, 2018, appearing for the Kane County Cougars (0-2, 3 Sv, 1.53 in 12 G) and also seeing time with Hillsboro (3.63 ERA in 10 G) and Missoula (0 R in 2 1/3 IP, 1-0). He made his Dominican Winter League debut with the Águilas Cibaeñas and it was better than his summer league debut (2-1, 3.00) had been.

With the 2019 Visalia Rawhide, he went 9-0 with two saves and a 3.81 ERA, with 83 K to 20 BB in 78 IP, an exact record turnaround from 2012. He tied Cole Bartlett, Lucas Luetge and Bo Takahashi for 3rd in the Diamondbacks chain in wins and tied Robby Scott for 6th in games pitched (43). He tied for 5th in the California League in victories and tied Max Gamboa for 6th in appearances. He was 0-1 with a save and a 2.79 ERA for the 2019-2020 Águilas Cibaeñas, tying Mauricio Cabrera and Ulises Joaquin for 7th in games pitched.

The 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in a shortened winter season. In the 2021 Caribbean Series, he was excellent, allowing three hits, two walks and two unearned runs in six innings, striking out six and going 1-0 for the champion Águilas. He got the win in the finale against the Criollos de Caguas, relieving César Valdez and being succeeded by Wirfin Obispo. He tied for third in the Series in appearances.

He opened 2021 with the Amarillo Sod Poodles (1-1, Sv, 2.35 in 12 G, 21 K in 15 1/3 IP) then made the Dominican squad for the Final Qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics. He pitched in all three of the Dominican games to tie Danny Rondón, Harold Chirino and teammate Jairo Asencio for the event lead in games pitched (the two Venezuelan pitchers had an edge, as their team played one more game). He debuted against Venezuela, relieving Raynel Espinal in the 4th with a 3-2 deficit, two on and none out. Alexander Palma hit into a run-scoring force, then Dennis Ortega grounded into a double play and Gorkys Hernández flew out. Darío Álvarez relieved and the Dominicans rallied for a 10-7 win. In the next outing, he relieved Marcos Diplan in the 7th with a 3-0 lead against the Dutch national team. He fanned both Calten Daal and Denzel Richardson, walked Dashenko Ricardo and got John Polonius on a grounder. Carlos Ramírez relieved him in a 4-3 victory. In the finale, with a spot in the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 due to the pandemic, but still called the 2020 Olympics) on the line, he relieved Álvarez in the 5th with one out and a 8-3 lead against Venezuela. He retired Palma and Luis Sardiñas in the 5th. Robinson Chirinos reached on an error to open the 6th but Castillo got Diego Rincones on a fly, Hernández swinging and Engelb Vielma on a grounder. He remained strong to open the 7th by retiring Alexi Amarista and Hernán Pérez but Danry Vásquez doubled and Palma singled to close it to 8-4. He whiffed Sardiñas to end the inning, then Diplan relieved in the 8th. The Dominicans won, 8-4, for a spot in Tokyo.

Castillo was then promoted to the Reno Aces, where he struggled (2-3, Sv, 6.63 in 17 G). He was back with the Dominicans for the Olympics. He pitched in five of their six games, going 1-1 with a save and three runs in four innings. He saved Ángel Sánchez's win over Mexico, but failed to close out the game against South Korea. Entering with a 3-1 lead in the 9th, he allowed hits to Joo-hwan Choi, Hae-min Park, Jung-hoo Lee and Hyun-soo Kim while only recording two hits. He then got the win over Zack Weiss and Israel. The Dominicans took Bronze and he tied Jumbo Díaz, Ryoji Kuribayashi and Scott McGough for second in games pitched in the event, one behind Sang-woo Cho.

He had a save, 1.27 ERA and .75 WHIP for the 2021-2022 Águilas Cibaeñas and then was 1-0 with two shutout innings in the 2022 Caribbean Series. He was named the event's All-Star relief pitcher. The Detroit Tigers signed him for 2022. He did very well with the Erie SeaWolves (1-0, 0 R in 3 1/3 IP) and Toledo Mud Hens (3-1, 1.56 in 33 G) and got promoted to the majors. In his major league debut with the Detroit Tigers on August 6, 2022, he pitched the final inning of a 9-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, giving up a pair of hits (to Yu Chang and Roman Quinn) and striking out one batter (Taylor Walls).

Related Sites

• Luis Castillo on mlb.com
• BR Register page