LuisCastillo

News: 3 days agoBecause he's been doing individual workouts at Great American Ballpark since May, Castillo is confident that he can ramp up quickly for Opening day, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports. "Right now, because I've been here such a long time and doing all of my bullpen sessions, I think I could go out and pitch 6-7 innings," Castillo said Saturday via translator Jorge Merlos on a Zoom call. "That's how good I feel right now. I'm perfectly OK to do so."

Spin: There's likely to be a wide amount of variance in each player's preparedness after this three-week training period, and at this point we have to take the players and teams at their word, with the lack of spring training games. But Castillo appears to be well-positioned for the beginning of the season.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Castillo predictably rebounded in 2019, after a rather unlucky 2018 in terms of both ERA and total strikeouts. In fact, he even stepped up his game by posting a 28.9% strikeout rate that was his highest in any season since he was in rookie ball in 2013. He continued to flash one of the game's most dominating changeups, while boosting his four-seam fastball velocity to 96.5 mph on average, traits that should increase his odds of repeating (or even exceeding) that performance. Castillo has established himself as one of the 20 best starting pitchers in fantasy, regardless of format, and while his hitting-friendly home ballpark (Great American Ball Park) will probably hold him back from reaching the pinnacle at his position, he's a strong investment at a prime age 27 and coming off back-to-back 30-start campaigns.