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"Fast FactsRight-handed pitcher26 years oldFinished eighth in Rookie of the Year balloting in 2017Better at baseball than you or any of your friendsOrganizational historySigned by the San Francisco Giants as an international free agent in 2011Traded by the Giants with Kendry Flores to the Miami Marlins for Casey McGeheeTraded by the Marlins to the San Diego Padres in a six-player deal Mike Scott Jersey , then given back to Miami when Colin Rea’s medicals were called into questionTraded by the Marlins with Zeek White and Austin Brice to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Dan StrailyWill be arbitration-eligible after 2020, and a free agent after 2023Career statsScouting reportKen Gif-y Jr.Luis is likeAnd then I’m likeProjectionsOutlookIn retrospect, it was always going to be difficult for Luis Castillo to finish the 2018 season having fully lived up to the potential his 2017 debut hinted at. The Cincinnati Reds hadn’t had a pitcher look the way he did in his rookie season in some time, as Castillo threw 89.1 innings with a 3.12 ERA, a 27.3 percent strikeout rate, and a 84 FIP-. His xwOBA allowed was in the 92nd percentile among among MLB pitchers, his fastball was Noah Syndergaard-esque, and his change-up was nightmare fuel for hitters. Lots of digital ink was used to declare Castillo an ace-in-waiting, with a breakout campaign in 2018 all that was needed to solidify him as one of the game’s most dominant young starters.The breakout didn’t happen. Castillo finished April with a 7.85 ERA, with 24 strikeouts and 13 walks in 28.2 innings. Questions swirled about what was holding him back, and as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon wrote about at the time, everything from a changed arm angle to a dip in velocity to even tipping pitches was discussed as explanations for Castillo’s sudden struggles. He steadied himself a bit over the next couple of months, but when the All-Star break rolled around, his ERA was still sitting at 5.49, with 19 home runs allowed in 103.1 innings.When the Reds returned for the second half of the season Alex Bregman Jersey , however, Castillo pitched like a man who had figured things out. He owned a 2.44 ERA in 66.1 innings the rest of the way, with 69 strikeouts, 14 walks and nine homers allowed. He was at his best in the month of September, posting a 1.09 ERA in 33 innings with a dreamy line of 34 strikeouts, eight walks and four homers allowed.Where does all of that leave Castillo and the Reds? Oddly enough, in a place very similar to where they were a year ago. Castillo didn’t achieve the breakout many envisioned in 2018, but because he finished the season with such a compelling run of performances, we’ve found ourselves once again optimistic that he’ll establish himself as a frontline starter this year.For that to happen, Castillo will need to prove that the regression in both his batted ball profile and his overall stuff in 2018 was a mirage. His four-seam velocity dropped from 97.4 to 95.8, and lost a considerable amount of the spin it had when he first broke into the majors. Opponents’ average exit velocity also climbed from 84.9 to 88.1, and their xwOBA went from .264 to .318. It was a clear step back across the board, and if those are the kind of numbers he’s settled into, Castillo is much closer to a No. 4 than a No. 1.What Castillo does still have going for him, though http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , is a fastball that remains near elite in terms of its velocity, and a change-up that might be one of the best pitches in the sport. He also throws tons of strikes, and still has plenty of projection in his slider. There’s a reason that, even after his disappointing 2018, The Athletic’s Eno Sarris essentially said Castillo is as close to a perfect prototype of a young pitcher as we have in today’s game.If he doesn’t make the jump he seems capable of making, it will be another disappointment for an organization who has seen one arm after another fail to live up to their potential over the past five seasons. He’ll still settle in as a mid-to-back-end rotation cog, but it will mean the Reds’ search for an ace will need to continue in free agency — good luck with that — or in still-developing prospects like Tony Santillan and Hunter Greene.If he does become an ace, though, then that doesn’t just make Cincinnati a dangerous team in the long-term — it makes the team a contender right now. The Reds, after all, were in trade talks earlier in the winter regarding Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber, with the idea that adding a No. 1 starter was the difference between the team merely playing meaningful games in September and the team actually making the postseason. If Castillo is a six-win kind of pitcher in 2019, and the trio of Sonny Gray, Alex Wood and Tanner Roark each perform in the roles they were brought in to fill, then the Reds’ playoff push becomes a very legitimate possibility. Returns last year were quite poor Brian McCann Jersey , but he’ll have another opportunity this year."Divisiveness is a key feature of prospect evaluations. Perhaps no one in the Detroit Tigers’ system has exemplified that as much as Dawel Lugo. His selection to play in the 2018 Futures Game illustrated that some still believe Lugo is a quality infield prospect with a bright future in Detroit. Others believe there are holes in his game that players simply don’t grow out of, and he will ultimately top out with the unfortunate label of being a “4A player”. At Bless You Boys, our meager optimism waned during a bleak 2018 campaign, but Lugo still checks in at #15 on our Top 30 Prospect List. While his chances of reaching his ceiling as a decent regular now appear pretty bleak, expect the Tigers to give him every opportunity to produce some value at the major league level. BackgroundJuly 18, 2017. That’s the day the Tigers dealt JD Martinez to Arizona for three infield prospects — an 18-year old speedy lottery ticket in Jose King, a 21-year old glove-first shortstop in Sergio Alcantara, and a 22-year old former shortstop with blossoming power in Dawel Lugo.Lugo, from Bani, Dominican Republic, had originally signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as a 16-year old in 2011. He played exclusively shortstop in his first four professional seasons, and while the arm played just fine, he didn’t display the necessary range to stick around at short in the upper levels of the minors. After being dealt to Arizona in a post-waiver deadline trade for Cliff Pennington in 2015, Lugo played out the season at short but was converted to a third baseman the following spring. He had a bit of a breakout season in 2016, when he mashed 13 taters for Visalia in the high-A California League http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , and four more upon being promoted to Double-A Mobile, finishing with an .831 OPS across both levels. time to time. If he can eliminate years of bad habits in the batter’s box, which seems to be a dwindling possibility, Lugo’s ceiling is that of an everyday second baseman and top of the order threat. Otherwise, he is headed down a similar path to that of teammate and fellow Dominican native, Ronny Rodriguez. Rodriguez has suffered from the same crippling lack of patience at the plate, himself posting a 4.1% walk rate in 3,300+ plate appearances. The result is a talented Triple-A player who is just hoping to catch on in a utility role somewhere. Lugo seems very likely to follow in those footsteps. The Tigers will probably give Lugo plenty of opportunities this year. However, by season’s end, there may be a lot more competition in the middle infield department. If it’s going to happen for Lugo, it needs to happen now. We will just have to wait and see if there’s any helium left in that balloon.