GOODYEAR, Arizona – On Luis Castillo’s final pitch of the afternoon, he made infielder Alex Blandino swing and miss. Then he pumped his fist, smiled and walked off the field confident about his first simulated game of spring training.
Because of travel issues from the Dominican Republic in February, Castillo was the last Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher to arrive to spring training and the last one to appear in a game or a simulated game. But after striking out three hitters in two innings of an intrasquad scrimmage on Monday, Castillo said he will be ready to pitch in a spring training game this week.