Reds pitcher Luis Castillo is on the Mets’ radar as the Aug. 2 trade deadline approaches, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman.
Castillo’s name has floating around the rumor mill for several seasons now, but his years of control combined with the Reds’ consistently being a postseason contender made trades never come to fruition.
However, the Reds had a firesale over the offseason and currently own the second-worst winning percentage in baseball (23-46, .333) after an infamous 3-22 start.
The Mets have dealt with injuries to their rotation all season long – Jacob deGrom has not pitched yet, and Max Scherzer got hurt in mid-May (both are expected to return soon, with Scherzer’s return happening as early as Sunday). Tylor Megill is currently on the IL for the second time this season, while Taijuan Walker also spent time on the injured list. Carlos Carrasco also left Wednesday’s start with a lower back injury.
Castillo is under team control through the 2023 season, but has not been quite his 2019-20 self. Sine the start of the 2021 season, he owns a 3.92 ERA in 42 starts (104 earned runs/238.2 innings). He does strike out more than a batter per inning, though (9.1 K/9), and given the injuries to the rotation, the Mets could use some durability – he’s only been on the IL once in his career, albeit it was earlier this season.