Welington Castillo already wasn't hitting well, even for a catcher. During Game 1 on Tuesday, he didn't catch well, especially for a catcher.
Castillo became the first White Sox catcher since 2006 to yield three passed balls in one game, and unlike A.J. Pierzynski, he couldn't blame his struggles on a knuckeballer. No, Castillo let three pitches from fairly normal pitchers get past him on Tuesday, and they changed the game.
One of them led to the Astros' go-ahead scoring with Dylan Cease on the mound ...
... and another that scored the first insurance run with Jace Fry pitching:
The one thing that wasn't normal was the start time. Game 1 had a first pitch of 3:40 p.m., and the poor late-afternoon visibility that you often hear tormenting hitters might have gotten the best of Castillo in the middle of this one. That said, sympathy runs low for a catcher who, after getting busted for blood doping in his first season, has more or less failed in all three phases of the game in Year Two:
- Offense: Hitting .195/.267/.346, and hasn't had an average over .200 since April 28.
- Defense: He's up to seven passed balls over 37 games, and none of them are because he's prioritizing framing. He's also thrown out only 18 percent of basestealers.
- Handling pitchers: He has a 5.33 catchers ERA, which is nearly a run higher than James McCann's 4.49.
So why is Castillo still here? Especially with three catchers in Charlotte, two of whom are hitting? If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably for the pitchers. Zack Collins and Yermin Mercedes aren't lauded for their work behind the plate, and while Collins caught the Sox' worst starters during his limited appearances behind the plate, even the opposition's game notes were piling it on:
The White Sox could call up Seby Zavala, but Zavala has struck out in nine of his 12 plate appearances in Chicago, and is one of the few players who doesn't have an OPS of .800 at Charlotte.
That said, three passed balls makes it easy to set aside any pitcher-based arguments, because Castillo doesn't have any regular members of the rotation endorsing his work with their results. Reynaldo López performed better with Castillo behind the plate in the first half, but López has staged his second-half resurgence with the playing time divided between backstops.
| Pitcher | w/McCann | w/Castillo |
| Lucas Giolito | 3.42 (23) | n/a |
| Reynaldo López | 5.29 (9) | 5.08 (15) |
| Iván Nova | 3.48 (19) | 8.33 (6) |
| Dylan Cease | 6.86 (4) | 4.00 (3) |
Basically, if the Sox were required to suffer through catching woes from Collins or Mercedes at the big-league level, now would probably be the time to do it. Collins might need a little more time to understand his reworked swing before it gets exposed to major-league pitching again, but Mercedes has been happily mashing in the minors the whole season. May as well, right?
I'm guessing the Sox are reluctant to saddle McCann and the pitching staff with a novice. I also wonder if the lack of August waiver trades makes it less natural to cut a player in Castillo's place. What's being said about Castillo could've applied to Dioner Navarro in 2016, and yet he was dealt to his former team at the end of August for a pitcher who is still in the White Sox organization (Colton Turner). If the Sox received any talent of intrigue for Castillo, one could justify the shift to a less-qualified catcher as part of the business, rather than an independent and punitive action.
Or maybe the White Sox are waiting until Sept. 1 to cut Castillo in order to make sure that no team can use a dead cat bounce in the postseason. That's probably too petty to be a primary motivator, but after watching Yonder Alonso put his game together with Colorado, I wouldn't put pettiness entirely out of the question.
