Castillo trends in right direction as rotation decisions loom

SEATTLE -- Cal Raleigh seemed more antsy than frustrated about the right side discomfort that sidelined him for the second straight game on Sunday.

And as the Mariners’ all-world catcher preached a “play it safe” approach, he also put faith in his teammates to hold things down amid his day-to-day status.

Chief among them, Luis Castillo.

“Louie going out and executing today would make things a lot easier,” Raleigh said. “But we have faith in that. Louie is due for a good game.”

That last part mostly came to fruition, as Castillo looked far more capable in Seattle’s series finale vs. Kansas City than at any point in April. The Mariners’ offense, however, clearly missed its best power hitter in a 4-1 loss that capped a three-game sweep.

It might be too bold to say that Sunday represented an audition for Castillo, the Mariners’ most expensive player and their rotation’s most seasoned arm. But with a rotation logjam looming in the wake of Bryce Miller’s return from the injured list, the club needed to see Castillo trend in the opposite direction of the 8.06 ERA he posted in five April starts.

Because it’s clear that Emerson Hancock is going nowhere.

He generated a career-high 14 strikeouts on Saturday, but that effort was squandered in a 10th-inning defeat. And because of Hancock’s heroics, if it wasn’t their worst loss of the season, it was a close second.

So, for Castillo, this was a step forward, even if only a marginal one.

“I'm about nine years in the league, and since I've entered the league, same routine, same preparation from one start to another,” Castillo said through an interpreter. “Like I've said, sometimes there are obstacles that happen throughout the season. And sometimes, there's bad luck. But it's not going to last the entire season.”

That said, the three-spot that Castillo surrendered in the third and the two-out walk that was followed by an RBI double in the sixth weren’t ideal.

In the fourth, he fell into a bases-loaded jam with no outs, via singles to Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino and a hit-by-pitch to Salvador Perez, each of whom came around to score. He nearly got out of it via a would-be 93.6 mph assist and double play on Perez at the plate from Julio Rodríguez. But a Royals challenge overturned the call and kept their rally going with a sac fly.

Castillo also nearly escaped the sixth, generating two quick outs before a seven-pitch walk to Jac Caglianone that prompted a mound visit. But from pitching coach Pete Woodworth instead of Dan Wilson, who’s regularly entrusted starters to work out of those jams at the end of their outings. Castillo then gave up a double off the center-field wall to Isaac Collins that allowed Caglianone to go first-to-home and make it a 4-1 game.

However, this loss -- which capped Seattle’s third sweep this season and first at home -- wasn’t necessarily all on Castillo.

The Mariners’ bats had just two at-bats with runners in scoring position, both hitless, and virtually nothing going against Royals lefty Kris Bubic, who cleared seven innings.

Raleigh might’ve helped those efforts, but he too has had his struggles, with a .501 OPS against southpaws compared to a .709 OPS against righties. Beyond him, the Mariners’ team-wide .621 OPS vs. lefties ranks 27th.

“For whatever reason, we haven't seen the ball super well against lefties,” Wilson said. “But again, we've got to make some adjustments offensively and get back to doing what we do in terms of getting guys on base and pushing the envelope that way.”

Castillo on Sunday had more life on his fastball, which he turned to 65% of the time and flashed for four of his five strikeouts. That included maybe the best pitch he’s thrown all year, a 97.6 mph heater up-and-in to Pasquantino for a strikeout to end the top of the first.

The slider, too, had more bite and held the Royals to a 1-for-5 clip. The telling context being that, entering play, opponents were hitting .310 with a .517 slugging percentage against it.

The clearest factor in his turnaround -- again, of the baby-steps variety -- was pitching on a borderline summer Seattle afternoon compared to the Mariners’ soggiest game of recent memory on Monday in Minnesota.

“Based on this weather, I was able to get that velocity and was definitely happy that I saw that velocity tick up,” Castillo said. “But at the same time, a little sad that we weren't able to get the results that we wanted today.”