Mariners' Luis Castillo Won't Pitch in World Baseball Classic

Luis Castillo of the Seattle Mariners won’t pitch in the World Baseball Classic, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

Luis Castillo will not pitch in the World Baseball Classic, Jerry Dipoto just said.

"It?s a choice that we made together."

— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) February 1, 2023

The general manager for the Mariners, Jerry Dipoto, stated Friday that Castillo and the team have agreed that having him pitch for the Dominican Republic in the WBC is not in the team’s best interest.

This is the biggest problem with the current WBC schedule. Not all teams want their ace starting pitchers ramping up so quickly. They don’t want to risk injury when the player is not pitching for their organization, especially when they would be on the hook for his salary. The New York Yankees have recently told Luis Severino that they also don’t want him pitching in the WBC.

The Mariners are still chasing the defending World Series champion Houston Astros for supremacy in the American League West. The Astros still sit at the top at +200, but the Mariners aren’t that far behind at +300. You can find these odds, along with the odds for every MLB team to get to win their division, on the FanDuel Sportsbook.