It’s only going to be the biggest game of his career. But about 24 hours before his postseason debut in Thursday’s Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series against the Braves, Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo felt confident.

“It’s a little bit large emotion that I have going on right now. We’re just going go out there and give it our best,” Castillo said on Wednesday via translator Jorge Merlos. “Really, you just have to have a positive attitude towards this. Mentally, I have to stay focused and say, ‘OK, we’re going to go and advance through these games.’ That’s what we have to do. Each game, we have to win.”

After the Reds' 1-0 loss in 13 innings in Game 1, it will be up to Castillo to help the Reds stave off elimination.

Over 12 starts in the regular season, Castillo was 4-6 with a 3.21 ERA, 24 walks and 89 strikeouts over 70 innings. But the story, really, was his final month of performances.

In five September starts, Castillo was 4-1 with a 2.20 ERA, nine walks and 37 strikeouts. He won the first four games with a 1.26 ERA, before losing his final regular-season start to the Twins, 7-3, on Saturday. The right-hander gave up four runs on six hits over four innings with no walks and four strikeouts.

Reds manager David Bell believed Castillo would have no trouble finding the groove that made him successful over the first four games of September.

“It’s funny, I would say that it wasn’t his best, but even when he’s not at his best, you can still see the stuff,” Bell said of Saturday’s performance. “You see what he’s capable of. He has the ability to do that. The few starts before that, he was on a roll. That was the game after we clinched a postseason spot. There were things you can point to that maybe led to him not being as sharp.

“The good news was he got the work in. He had enough success that night and threw a good amount of pitches. He wasn’t taxed too much but definitely got his work in. I think it was a perfectly fine leadup to [Thursday’s] start.”

Castillo, 27, is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA over three career starts against the Braves. The last meeting came on Apr. 25, 2019, when he threw six scoreless innings with eight hits allowed, no walks and two strikeouts for a 4-2 victory at Great American Ball Park.

Bradley feeling good
Reds reliever Archie Bradley went into the postseason having not pitched since Sept. 20 due to assorted injuries that included lower back tightness. Bradley was no longer concerned Wednesday.

“I feel great. It was unfortunate the last week of the season I was grinding through some small injuries,” Bradley said. “Everything checked out clean. Good communication between David, our pitching coach and our training staff. It was really some minor things that we didn’t want to push, with us already having clinched. It was a little back stuff, little arm stuff, everything just kind of at the wrong time. But we got it right. I feel good and we are 100 percent ready to go today.”

Cincinnati acquired Bradley from Arizona on Aug. 31 for utility player Josh VanMeter and outfield prospect Stuart Fairchild. His new team was 15-21 when he arrived but stormed back in September to make the playoffs. Bradley posted a 1.17 ERA in six appearances for the Reds.

“Throughout my career, you dream of making the postseason,” said Bradley, who took the Game 1 loss Wednesday. “I was able to make it [in 2017] with the D-backs. Then you get traded at the Deadline. At least the mindset I had was, ‘All right, they brought me here for a reason, and we’re going to go make a run.’ … The wheels started spinning, we started doing things the right way, some big timely hits, some big innings, some big starts, and the next thing you know, here we are sitting in the Wild Card Series.

“I’d like to think that I had a part of that, and that was part of why they brought me over here -- to bring, jokingly, some playoff experience, more of a good attitude, a fresh guy, energetic, positive and really just trying to bring out the best in everyone. I feel like the way this team has come together over this past month has been really fun to be a part of.”

Barnhart excited
Catcher Tucker Barnhart was drafted by the Reds in 2009 and arrived in the big leagues in '14, the season after the club’s last postseason appearance.

“To get to experience this with them -- my first winning record with the Cincinnati Reds in the big leagues, and obviously my first postseason appearance in a Reds uniform -- it’s extremely special, extremely excited,” said Barnhart, who went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts Wednesday. “I’ve got those jitters that I welcome.”