Noelvi Marte spent August and September slashing .292/.397/.443 for Cincinnati’s High-A affiliate, good for a 138 wRC+. And I’m nothing but happy for him. The co-headliner in Seattle’s blockbuster trade-deadline deal for Luis Castillo can have a Hall of Fame career, and I’ll wish him nothing but the best. That’s because what Castillo gave me today was a gift I’ll treasure for the rest of my life: 7.1 innings of shutout baseball against one of the best hitting teams in the league to secure the Mariners’ first postseason victory since 2001.
To be fair, Castillo wasn’t exactly in a pressure cooker after what the Mariners’ hitters did to open the ball game.