SEATTLE -- The Rock is ready for the noise.
When the Mariners acquired Luis Castillo at the 2022 Trade Deadline, sending three of their top five prospects back to Cincinnati, they made the move to bring in a veteran ace to lead an up-and-coming staff through the homestretch of a playoff race, and beyond.
Now in his third year in Seattle, Castillo is the elder statesman of a homegrown arsenal, the stalwart backbone of a rotation that has flashed individual brilliance while also dealing with injury setbacks.
But through all of it, there’s one thing the 32-year-old hasn’t done: make a postseason start at home.
That will change Sunday, with Castillo taking the ball for Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Tigers.
“You know, it's a lot,” Castillo said via translator Freddy Llanos, ahead of Game 1. “I mean, the fans -- you can really tell how much they love us. They bring us that energy. They deserve what we were able to bring, this good team that we have this year, build up on it.
“They definitely bring a lot of energy, and we're able to feed off of it. They bring those vibes, and as we've all been saying, a lot of good vibes.”
Castillo has already flashed brilliance in the playoffs. He posted a 1.88 ERA in two starts in the Mariners’ 2022 run to the ALDS, tossing 7 1/3 scoreless innings in the Wild Card round against the Blue Jays before taking the ball for Game 2 of the Division Series against Houston and making it through seven innings, allowing three runs.
Those two starts -- and the one he made in the 2020 NLDS with the Reds -- had one thing in common, though: They all came on the road. Sunday, Castillo will get a new experience, with a capacity crowd on hand making the noise on his side.
“I think the adrenaline is different,” Castillo said. “These kinds of games, they come with a lot of intensity, so I think -- or I hope -- that today's and tomorrow's games, the fans bring it and bring that intensity.”
The right-hander comes into his start on a roll, after posting a 1.07 ERA in his final four starts of the season, with 24 strikeouts against two walks in 25 1/3 innings. It’s come directly on the heels of his toughest four-start stretch of the year, when he allowed 19 runs in 17 innings.
It all changed for Castillo with a quality start in Atlanta on Sept. 7, holding the Braves to one run in 6 1/3 innings while the Mariners blew things open to the tune of an 18-2 rout, which sent the club back to the West Coast on a high note and keyed Seattle’s 17-1 stretch that vaulted it to the AL West title.
“I've always said it every time they ask me, ‘It's a long game, baseball, and you live through good times, and you live through bad times,’” Castillo said. “And after that start, I kind of got a sense that things were shifting, and right away the team started performing well. The team started playing great games, and thanks to that, I think that's why we're here right now.”
That Castillo would get the ball in Game 2 isn’t entirely an unexpected move. But who he’s following is more unexpected, at least in the big picture. For just about this whole season -- which began with George Kirby on the injured list and saw Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller join him there before June -- Castillo and Bryan Woo were the two spots of consistency in the rotation, both clearing 180 innings.
As Woo vaulted himself into ace territory with a dominant first half that sent him to the All-Star Game, he became the clear favorite to be Seattle’s Game 1 starter. But that plan was nixed late in the Mariners’ stretch run due to inflammation in his right pec. Come Saturday, Woo wasn’t even on the ALDS roster, with the Mariners hoping he could return if they get to the ALCS.
Instead, Castillo will follow Kirby, who got the nod for Game 1. It sets Castillo up to possibly take the hill in an if-necessary Game 5 -- also at T-Mobile Park, where he has a 2.60 ERA this season, and makes him the only Seattle starter to make every single one of his starts this season.
But this one will come with a new sort of energy in the park around him.
“I think I just try to stay on the same page that I'm at,” Castillo said. “I really don't try to change anything.”