The White Sox had to dig out of a hole Saturday night, and Luis Castillo made sure the climb was steeper than it needed to be.
Castillo lasted just 2.2 innings in Chicago’s 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, giving up three earned runs on four hits and three walks while striking out two. He also let a runner score that he inherited from Sean Newcombe, who worked 1.1 innings as the opener.
At this point, the White Sox should be treating Castillo like a pitcher reserved for games that are already out of hand. If Chicago gets into the postseason, he shouldn’t be part of the roster. That’s the reality after the White Sox brought him over from the Seattle Mariners in August.
The numbers in Chicago have been rough. Castillo owns a 7.76 ERA in 29 innings with the White Sox, along with 41 hits, 11 walks, 26 runs, 25 earned runs and 25 strikeouts across seven games and six starts.
His lone standout outing came on Aug. 12, when he shut out Cincinnati over seven innings. Every other White Sox appearance has gone the same way: at least three runs allowed.
Chicago acquired Castillo at the trade deadline, sending reliever Seranthony Dominquez and minor leaguers Nolan Jones and Brandon Smith to Seattle. The move also cleared out the two-year, $20 million contract Dominguez signed in January. Castillo arrived as a veteran arm with postseason experience, but the White Sox haven’t gotten that version of him.
His struggles in Chicago follow a shaky run with Seattle, where he went 3-9 with a 5.06 ERA in 99.2 innings. He also posted 32 walks, 86 strikeouts and a 1.395 WHIP.
With the White Sox, that WHIP has jumped to 1.709. Before this season, Castillo had strung together seven straight years with an ERA under 4.00.
Saturday’s win still belonged to Chicago in the end. The White Sox erased a 4-1 deficit, tied the game at four and then fell behind 5-4 entering the ninth. Randall Grichuk delivered the big swing, blasting a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer to push the White Sox ahead 6-5 and seal the comeback.
That result trimmed Chicago’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot to 13. The magic number to win the American League Central is 14. Next up is a huge one: Cleveland hosts the White Sox in a three-game series from Monday through Wednesday that could decide the division race.
In Other News...
White Sox Just Lost A Key Voice In Their Draft Pipeline
The White Sox lost a familiar figure in their draft room this week, with Mike Shirley resigning from his job as Director of Amateur Scouting and no longer being with the organization. Shirley had been in that role since 2019, making him a significant part of how Chicago evaluated amateur talent and shaped recent draft plans.
For a team trying to keep building a stronger pipeline, the timing matters because Shirley was directly involved in those strategy conversations and selections. The club has not offered any further detail on the resignation, and Shirley has not commented, leaving one more important front-office transition hanging over a development system that has already been under a microscope. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Try To Seal Cardinals Series With A New Wrinkle Sunday
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Sandlins call-up has become part of the story here, and the White Sox have also moved Schweitzer off the roster as they continue sorting out the pitching side of things. For a club trying to stack wins and keep momentum in a tough spot on the schedule, the series finale is less about ceremony than seeing whether the new pieces can hold up long enough to finish the job in St. Louis. [Read more 🡒]
Randal Grichuk May Have Changed Everything For The White Sox
Randal Grichuk has already given the White Sox a moment they can point to as the kind of swing that can change the mood around a clubhouse. His two-run walk-off homer in a late-season game delivered a 6-5 win and put Chicago back in control of the divisional race, a dramatic finish that underscored why the veteran has mattered since joining the team.
What makes the blast linger is not just the result, but the way it arrived, flipping the game in a hurry and jolting a team still trying to define its season. Whether it becomes the night the White Sox finally settled into a better run or just another sharp memory in a choppy year is still to be seen, but it gave them a needed lift when the margin for error was thin. [Read more 🡒]