Padres: Lat strain major blow to Jose Castillo’s roster chances

Jose Castillo left Wednesday night’s intrasquad game with a possible lat strain, and the injury could cost his chances of making the Padres bullpen.

Already on the fringe of making the Padres bullpen, Jose Castillo‘s chances just took a major hit, as he reportedly left the intrasquad game on Wednesday night with a lat strain. The 24-year-old made only nine appearances – including two starts – in the minors last year, fanning 18 batters in just 8.0 innings of work.

And in his first game back at the big league level, Castillo exited after just two outs after tearing a ligament in his throwing hand.

“We’re incredibly disappointed for him,” (Andy) Green said, via MLB.com. “He’d worked really hard to get back. To have a two-out outing be his only outing of the regular season is tough — tough for him, tough for us. We’re hoping his recovery is good and that he’s a productive pitcher for us for a long time. We really expect him to be.”

Prior to last year’s injury, Castillo made 37 appearances for the Padres, striking out 52 batters while walking just 12 and posting a respectable 3.29 ERA. His latest injury could potentially cost him the entire year, a 60-game schedule, as lat strains have shown to require several weeks of recovery time.

And then it raises the question, if he is eligible to return this year, do you risk inserting him knowing there is little room for error? The Padres bullpen is already crowded, and Castillo’s injury doesn’t do him any favors.

He’s under team control through the 2024 season, so perhaps it’s best to let him come back 100 percent healthy next year.

UPDATE:

Castillo is reportedly out at least six weeks, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic. Not good, folks.