51s starter Castro aims to regain early-season form

Las Vegas left-hander Fabio Castro started this season in dominant fashion, compiling a 2-0 mark with a 0.83 ERA in April for Double-A New Hampshire and a 24 1/3-inning scoreless streak in May for the 51s.

"He did an outstanding job when he first got here," 51s pitching coach Dave LaRoche said Monday before Las Vegas' 5-3 loss to Colorado Springs at Cashman Field. "He was maybe our best pitcher."

But Castro, 24, has mostly struggled since his hot start, a swoon he attributes to an illness in early June.

A native of the Dominican Republic who was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays from the Philadelphia Phillies late last season for veteran slugger Matt Stairs, Castro said he vomited between innings of his June 5 start, which he left after allowing one hit and three walks in three scoreless innings.

"My stomach and head (bothered me), and after that, I felt like I lost my power," said Castro, scheduled to start for the 51s today at home against Colorado Springs. "My next four or five starts, I (felt terrible). But now I feel better again."

After holding opponents scoreless in five of his first eight starts for the 51s, Castro gave up three runs or more in his next six outings.

At the urging of Dane Johnson, the Blue Jays' roving pitching instructor, Castro added a cut fastball to his arsenal of pitches not long after joining Las Vegas, and LaRoche said he thinks that might have hurt his performance.

"To get a cutter going, you have a tendency to try to throw it harder, and all of a sudden he was throwing all of his pitches a little harder, and he got out of sync," LaRoche said. The 5-foot-7-inch, 180-pound Castro, who is 4-4 with a 4.04 ERA for the 51s, said command was the key to his success early this season, when he had 24 strikeouts and only three walks in 21 2/3 innings for New Hampshire.

"His fastball, curve and changeup was what made him so effective early on," LaRoche said. "He was throwing any one in any count to any hitter."

Mixing his cut fastball into his repertoire, Castro flashed his prior form in his last start for the 51s on Thursday against Tacoma. He held the Rainiers to one earned run on four hits in seven innings, with two strikeouts. He walked none for the first time this season for Las Vegas.

"Hopefully he's found his groove again, and he'll stay in it and maybe help Toronto sometime in August and September," LaRoche said.

Castro, who compiled a 1.54 ERA in 16 games for the Phillies in 2006 in his most substantial stint in the majors, said he likes his chances to get back to the big leagues with the Blue Jays.

"I feel really good," he said. "I feel like I've got a better opportunity of going up sometime."

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.