Red ruminations: Castillo not terrible, so at least there was that

The Reds’ 12-2 loss to the Diamondbacks Thursday afternoon was a bit like throwing gas on a fire, but there was -- sort of -- some balm to be found in Great American Ball Park. At least there was this about starter Luis Castillo:

The rookie starting pitcher allowed four earned runs in six innings, which isn’t fantastic (unless indexed against Cincinnati’s entire starting pitching for the season), but -- again -- he’s a rookie.

For all the chatter about whom the Reds may trade before the July 31 deadline, here’s betting this guy is not included.

After six MLB starts, he’s 1-3 with a quite respectable ERA of 3.86. It seems reasonable to expect steady improvement. Just look at the early career statistics for some of the top Reds pitchers in in their first full seasons:

Player                        Year           Age          Team                 ERA              W-L

Jose Rijo                   1984           19             Yankees           4.76             2-8

1985         20             Athletics           3.53              6-4

1986         21             Athletics           4.65             9-11

1987         22             Athletics           5.90              2-7

1988         23             Reds                   2.39             13-8

Johnny Cueto             2008         22             Reds                   4.81              9-14

2009         23             Reds                   4.41             11-11

2010         24             Reds                   3.64              12-7

2011         25             Reds                   2.31               9-5

2012         26             Reds                   2.78              19-9

Nevermind the launch of Tom Seaver, who a three-time Cy Young Award winner with the Mets before he was traded to the Reds (for whom he went 75-46 with a 3.18 ERA in five-plus seasons with Cincinnati from 1977-’82).

Player                        Year        Age          Team                 ERA              W-L

Tom Seaver               1967        22            Mets                  2.76           16-13-@,

1968        23            Mets                  2.30           16-12-@

1969        24            Mets                  2.21           25-7-@, CY

1970        25            Mets                  2.82           18-12-@

1971        26            Mets                  1.76           20-10-@

Key: @ = National League All-Star team; CY = Cy Young award winner.

Seaver was ridiculous. He led the National League in strikeouts and ERA in ‘70 (283 Ks) and ‘71 (289).

Bet he didn’t come out of the chute facing playoff contenders in his first six starts:

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