The Reds have their problems. But the Reds can rest assured they have an ace moving into the 2020 season: Luis Castillo.
First off: I had no idea how many times Castillo was traded before he finally landed with the Reds. It was a bunch:
- 2011 – Signed by the Giants as an amateur free agent.
- 2014 – Traded to the Marlins to the Padres as part of a package for Casey McGehee.
- Augst 2016 – Traded to the Padres in a massive seven-player trade. No huge names moved, just lots of role players and prospects.
- July 2016 – Traded from the Padres to the Marlins for Colin Rea. Weird that he came back. Not sure the deal with that.
- 2017 – Traded from the Marlins to the Reds as part of a package for Dan Straily.
He spent roughly half of 2017 in the big leagues, and all of 2018, going 10-12 with a very decent 97+ ERA/1.220 WHIP. But Castillo really broke out this season going 15-8 with a 133 ERA+/1.143 WHIP. He struck out 226 in only 190.2 innings. Very nice.
The Reds should have a decent rotation coming into 2020. With Castillo, Trevor Bauer, Sonny Gray, Anthony DeSclafani, and Tyler Mahle this should be an above-average group. If some of the young bats come along the Reds could be a fun team.