Kervin Castro has thrown 3.2 scoreless innings across his last three appearances for the Yankees . He has allowed one hit, struck out four and walked two in that stretch.
The full sample is still small, but the numbers are useful: five games, 6.1 innings, a 1.42 ERA, a 0.79 WHIP and eight strikeouts. Castro has allowed three hits and no home runs. He has retired every hitter he faced in two of his last three outings.
Kervin Castro throws against Milwaukee during a Yankees road game.
The Yankees do not need to move Castro into the seventh inning tomorrow. They do need to stop treating him like the last pitcher available in a game that has already been decided.
His fastball gives him enough velocity to miss bats, and he has not needed a pile of pitches to finish his recent work. That matters for a bullpen that has been asked to cover short starts and protect narrow leads for most of the summer.
New York added several arms at the deadline, but the deadline review did not end the evaluation. David Bednar and Fernando Cruz have defined late roles. Castro can earn the inning before them if he keeps throwing strikes.
I would start by giving Castro a clean sixth inning against the bottom half of a lineup. Let him face three hitters with nobody on base, then see whether the fastball and breaking ball hold up when the game is close.
His two walks came in separate outings, and neither turned into a run. The Yankees will take that result, but the walks are still worth monitoring. Better hitters will wait him out if he loses the zone early in the count.
Castro does not need to become a setup man for this to help. A reliable middle reliever keeps the late-inning group rested and gives the manager a better answer when a starter leaves after five. Three straight scoreless appearances have earned him that chance.
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