As the got dominated Sunday by a pitcher who could have been one of them, the sentiment in the dugout was one of uniform awe.
Former Marlins prospect and rookie right-hander “showed the whole package,” as manager put it, in the Marlins’ 6-4 loss to the .
He threw eight innings and allowed one run to outpitch righty , the player he and two other Marlins minor leaguers were traded for in January.
“It was pretty electric stuff,” said catcher , the only Miami batter to drive in a run against Castillo. “I think everybody in the dugout was raving about his stuff, his ability to mix speeds and get back in the zone when he fell behind.”
Said Mattingly: “Guy throwing 100 and didn’t really walk anybody. … Showed good composure. Obviously, his stuff is good. Fielded his position, got bunts down, held runners. He was good.”
The game was not a referendum on which club ended up with the better side of the deal, but rather a one-game window into that eventual verdict, made more fun by each team’s rotation schedule aligning perfectly — a coincidence Straily noticed would be the case more than a week ago, when the Marlins were in Cincinnati.
“I was pretty excited,” Straily said of facing Castillo. “It’s just another fun thing. We all came from somewhere and have our own story on how we got to where we are right now. It’s kind of fun just to face a guy you’re traded for.”
Straily pitched six innings and allowed two runs. In the longest outing of his young major league career, Castillo, 24, struck out six, walked one and gave up three hits.
The Marlins broke through against Castillo in the sixth, when Ellis — batting second — doubled over the head of a leaping in center. Dee Gordon scored standing up, narrowly avoiding a tag after slowing down because he didn’t think the play would be close.
After Ellis’ double, Castillo retired his final seven batters, including a perfect eighth on nine pitches despite starting the inning with 97. His fastball touched 98 mph while getting Miguel Rojas striking out looking that inning.
“It’s amazing. You face your ex-team. You face the pitcher you were traded for. And we even wear the same number [No. 58] on the back of the jersey,” Castillo said through translator Julio Morillo. “It was a good experience. Thank God everything worked out well for me today.”
The Marlins actually traded Castillo twice in sixth months, first to the San Diego Padres in the Andrew Cashner/Colin Rea deal partially undone a couple of days later last summer and then to the Reds.
Now, eight starts into his time in the majors, Castillo is blossoming from prospect with potential into a legitimate big leaguer. He has a 3.56 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 48 innings.
The Marlins, to be sure, have been far from disappointed. Straily has been their steadiest starting pitcher in 2017, with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. They are also shopping him to contending teams in advance of the trade deadline at 4 p.m. Monday.
The difference Sunday was mostly Straily’s 29-pitch second, when Cincinnati scored twice. The Reds had two hits to the outfield: singles, neither hit particularly hard, from Jose Peraza and . One of the Reds’ runs scored on Castillo’s bunt single to Straily.
“Dan Straily serves a nice purpose for their club, and we’re getting just what we need — a second-half arm who can get us excited about what he do for us beginning in 2018,” Cincinnati manager Bryan Price said. “He’s really trying to cement himself in a rotation, and he’s well on his way.”
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