AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARINERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 15, 2025

Luis Castillo

T-Mobile Park

Seattle Mariners

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. What was that experience like coming out of the bullpen in Game 5?

LUIS CASTILLO: It was an experience that I've never lived in my Major League career. It was a great experience that Game 5. It was something special that I didn't think would happen, especially here at home. It was definitely special to be a part of that.

Q. Did coming out of the bullpen make you appreciate kind of what those guys do on a regular basis? And what is your relationship with some of those guys in the bullpen that you can talk about?

LUIS CASTILLO: I wouldn't say the relationship is with just the bullpen, but I think the entire clubhouse, it's pretty close. I think I got a little scared when the fire came out when I was going into the field. But it was a beautiful experience. I was out there talking with all the relievers, just trying to pick their brains a little bit, like, what do they do when it's cold outside. It was just a lot of chitchatting out there.

Q. About the past month and a half or so you've been pitching some of your best baseball of the year. What's been working for you during that time?

LUIS CASTILLO: Yeah, I've always said it, it's a long season in baseball, there's highs and lows. You always have to go out there, keep your head up, and just wait for those good moments to come. To me, it came at a right time, just because I knew it was an important part that needed to happen. For me, it was just kind of the start, you know, of something good to come.

Q. You were the starter for the team's first win this postseason, you were the last pitcher on the mound for Game 5 of the ALDS, and depending upon the result of today's game, you can either clinch the first berth to the World Series in team history or set you guys up to be one win away. Just what does it mean at this point in your career to play such a significant role in what has been the most promising postseason performance in team history?

LUIS CASTILLO: I think it means a lot. Confidence is huge. I mean, we've got to come out here and not just give 100 percent, but give 110 percent. We're at that stage where we have to come in, work and give a little bit more of ourselves than we have to do.

But for me, you know, it's the same mentality. Just trying to come out here, trying to compete, do my same routine, stay the same, go out there and battle and battle against some of these batters. I think the most important thing for me is, I've always said it, keep that positive mentality.

Q. Kind of along those lines, but for the team, you've had some people doubt that you could do what you did in Toronto because maybe you were too tired or had to take it to five games. You have the pressure of this team has never gone to a World Series before. How have you seen this team deal with those that might doubt or the pressures that come with the situation and the position that you're in right now?

LUIS CASTILLO: I always take it as a positive. We won that long game, got on a flight, four hours -- or a little bit more than four hours and going into Toronto, and I take it as a positive. If we can compete the way we competed in that last game, we can go in and compete here and just battle.

So like I always say, we just got to go out there and just battle and battle and battle.

Q. For seven months being a starter, so much is about routine, and that's kind of thrown in a blender this time of year. How do you try to work that and change things, adapt to when you're asked to pitch in the 14th inning of a Game 5, and still be ready for a start like this a few days later?

LUIS CASTILLO: Yeah, I think for me it's just staying in the same routine. I even think that our relievers have a routine, and even they don't know when they're going to pitch. But for me, I think that routine is very important. I'm not going to change it. This routine that I've done has helped me stay healthy, which I've been doing for the majority of my career, so I'm not changing.

Q. Back in 2016, you were traded with Josh Naylor from the Marlins to the Padres. Did you know him much in the minors and did you ever envision him stealing 30 bases in a season?

LUIS CASTILLO: Yeah, I didn't really know him much when we were in the minor league system with the Marlins. The name started to become a little bit familiar after the trade happens.

But you just had to have confidence in yourself. I mean, he came out here and has just been stealing bags, and I give him all the merit. He's put in a lot of work, even though he's been battling a lot, and I just hope that when we reach the World Series, he's able to steal a couple more.

Q. I wonder, growing up in the Dominican, which postseasons did you watch closely, who were your favorite teams or players that you always liked to follow at this time of year?

LUIS CASTILLO: Yeah, I always said it, my idol has always been, growing up, Pedro Martinez. We would always watch it. Growing up my dad was a big Boston Red Sox fan, and I remember he would always tell me, Hurry up, we got to watch Pedro the Great pitch.

But when I entered the Major Leagues, you know, he kind of put Boston in second place, and first place always became whatever team I'm playing with.

Q. When you came here in 2022, Cal Raleigh was a young catcher. What was he like then as a young guy working with a veteran and how has he evolved as a catcher?

LUIS CASTILLO: You know, he's evolved a lot. He has throughout these whole years. I think the important thing between a catcher and a pitcher is to always be on the same page. So I think the most important thing for us is always to have that same conversation, always agree on what pitch we should throw, what the conversations we have. So he's evolved a lot.

Q. About Cal's mound visits, Bryce said sometimes he comes out and he tries to tell a joke, a bad one. Logan said sometimes he just stares at him. What does he do when he comes out to visit you and what have you noticed about how he times his mound visits?

LUIS CASTILLO: Yeah, usually it starts off with me asking him, you know, What's up? Like, What's happening? And normally he just tells me, Just came up here to give you a little breath, and then we have a conversation there of what the next pitch to throw.

But, yeah, normally when he comes up, he's normally just telling me that he wants to give me a little breather.

Q. Curious, with this rotation, obviously, it's carried you guys for a number of seasons, but in some ways do you think that injuries early in the year to Bryce, to Logan, to George, do you think that's helped them be more fresh this time of year and maybe has the rotation in as good of a spot as you could ask for for October?

LUIS CASTILLO: Yeah, I think there's a bad side and a good side. I mean, obviously, these guys want to start the season healthy, put up numbers, and help the team in any way possible. But I do think that them starting a little later did kind of -- I mean, at this point of the season mostly everybody's banged up, tired. So yeah, I think they -- I wouldn't say they're, like, freshed, up but they have started a little earlier. But, yeah, you can look at it both ways.

Q. In the middle of the 15th inning in Game 5 on Friday, the highest-stakes moment of the season so far, guys in the dugout are watching, cheering on the salmon race in the outfield. I know it sounds silly, but what is it about this team that you can stay loose, have fun in a moment like that that was so important, and how much did you enjoy that?

LUIS CASTILLO: Yeah, I think it just means that, you know, we just got to enjoy the moment. I know it's an intense moment, and there's a lot going on on the field, but it's the end of the game, you know, you have to enjoy it. I mean, that's life. You only get one.

I remember I went out there, pitched, then came back in, and the pitching coach told me, This is your game. It doesn't matter how long it's going to go, it's up to you.

I remember I just went, prepared as if I was making a start, with that mentality, and luckily, I was only able to pitch about an inning and a third, and we were able to come out with a victory.