Ask baseball fans, as a thought exercise, to describe who they think of when they hear the name "Luis Castillo."
Most will defer to the Seattle Mariners pitcher—an All-Star in 2019, 2022 and 2023, and a Cy Young-caliber hurler in the most recent of those years. Older fans may point to the second baseman—also a three-time All-Star for the Florida Marlins, and a critical cog on their 2003 World Series team.
There is, however, a third Luis Castillo who has played big-league baseball. That would be another pitcher who featured in three games for the Detroit Tigers in 2022.
On Tuesday, that pitcher—after two seasons playing in Japan—reportedly signed with... the Mariners! Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Seattle has cornered the market on Luis Castillos.
Mariners are signing Luis F. Castillo, a RHP not to be confused with Luis M. Castillo, their All-Star righty. Minors deal with MLB camp invite. Was with Chiba Lotte and Orix last couple years.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 28, 2025
As Heyman has pointed out, the new Castillo's middle name is Felipe—making for an easy differentiator from Luis Miguel Castillo. The two Dominican pitchers' hometowns of Fantio and Bani are two and a half hours apart by car (Luis Castillo the infielder's middle name was Antonio, and he was from the hallowed infield factory of San Pedro de Macoris).
All told, Baseball Reference makes note of 21 different Luis Castillos between the major and minor leagues.
The moral of the story: if you want to guarantee your child plays big-league baseball, there's only one choice for a name.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mariners Sign Pitcher Who Shares First and Last Name With All-Star Teammate.
