Cincinnati Reds think right​-hander Luis Castillo's problems are an arm-angle issue

MINNEAPOLIS — The Reds think right-hander Luis Castillo’s struggles are related to a change in his arm angle.

Castillo did not record an out in the second inning Friday night. He allowed five runs on six hits. He’s 1-3 with 7.85 ERA after six starts. Castillo put up a 3.12 ERA in 16 starts last year.

“We have three really good pitching guys here,” Reds manager Jim Riggleman said. “Danny Darwin has had him in the past, Ted (Power) has had him the last year. (Derrin) Ebert has looked at a lot of film on him. They all agree that his arm angle has changed a little bit. His hand is maybe not getting on top of the ball like it needs to. What that does, is it causes the ball to flatten out instead of sink. Hitters love that when the ball moves (flat) across the plate instead of having some sink. It’s kind of running right into their barrel.”

If the schedule allowed it, the Reds would skip Castillo.

“We could even get him two bullpen sessions to get his arm angle to where we want, skipping a start,” Riggleman said. “His day to pitch is Wednesday. It would have been nice to let him take a step back and get two bullpen sessions with the coaches and get him straightened out.”

When a pitcher with stuff as good as Castillo is getting hit hard, there’s always a concern about tipping pitches.

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“You’re always worried about tipping pitches, but it’s hard to know if they are,” Riggleman said. “I mentioned that last night in the dugout. We’ve got to look closely at his tape and see if we can see him doing anything different on pitches. I don’t know if we’ve got an answer for that yet.”

TIRED BULLPEN: Castillo’s short start left the bullpen with eight innings to cover. It followed five-inning outings by Brandon Finnegan and Homer Bailey.

“You hate to think about (Sunday),” Riggleman said. “But you’ve got to think a little bit about (Sunday). I think we’ve got enough for (Saturday). That’s basically it. We’ve got innings to cover it. We’re starting to look at it. If guys throw (Saturday), they’ll be throwing five out of seven days. Some areas where you start to worry not only about the effectiveness, but the wear and tear. We’re still in April. We’ve got to get the starters stretched out.”