Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Diego Castillo Turning Heads in Altoona

Since being acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the New York Yankees infielder Diego Castillo has done nothing but hit for the Double-A Altoona Curve

Arguably the biggest surprise for the Pittsburgh Pirates at last month’s trade deadline was the Clay Holmes trade. Holmes being traded by the Pirates was not necessarily a surprise, the surprise was the return that Ben Cherington was able to net for Holmes.

During his time with the Pittsburgh Pirates Holmes often times flashed plus stuff as a reliever. However, his inability to find consistency or throw enough strikes made him an inconsistent at best pitcher. Despite this, Cherington was able to net a pair of top 30 prospects for Holmes.

One of the two players the Pittsburgh Pirates received in exchange for Holmes was super utility man Hoy Park. The left-handed hitting Park has already flashed some good things with the Pirates and could be a key utility man moving forward.

The other player the Pirates acquired in the trade was infielder Diego Castillo. The 23-year-old Castillo has spent his time in the Pirate organization with Double-A Altoona where he has done nothing but hit.

Since joining the Pirate organization Castillo has accumulated 90 plate appearances in 21 games played. Castillo has hit for a .284/.348/.506 slash line to go with a 130 wRC+ and .220 isolated slugging (.ISO) as a member of the Curve. He has hit 5 home runs an collected 3 doubles, giving him an extra base hit rate of 8.9%.

What has perhaps been most impressive from Castillo is his eye and patience at the plate. In his 90 PAs with the Curve has has drawn a walk in 8.9% of his trips to the plate, which is slightly below league average, however, his 7.8% strikeout rate puts him in rare territory.

For reference, the Major League average strikeout rate for a hitter is 22.1%. Castillo appears to have a plus contact tool at the plate. What is also impressive is that Castillo could be due for some bounce back at the plate.

Castillo currently owns a batting average on balls in play of .262 with the Curve. An average BAbip is .300 and any time a hitter has a batting average that is significantly above .300 it often times indicates they have benefitted from good luck/poor defense, making them a candidate to regress. When the number is significantly below .300 it indicates the opposite and makes them an candidate for some progression toward the norm. While a .262 BAbip is not way off from the norm, it is off enough to indicate that Castillo could see an uptick in his stats.

In his minor league career Castillo has played third base, second base and shortstop. With the Curve he has made 9 appearances at shortstop, 8 at second base, 4 at third base and has served as the designated hitter once.

While it is unclear if Castillo will stick at one position moving forward what is clear is that he appears to be hitting his way into being a prospect who could be a big part of the future for the Pittsburgh Pirates. It would not be a surprise to see Castillo shoot up prospect boards this offseason, especially at FanGraphs where Eric Logenhagen has previously pushed for him to be a top 100 prospect.

Odds are Castillo will begin the 2022 season with Triple-A Indianapolis. This will put Castillo on the door step of Pittsburgh, where he should spend plenty of time next summer. In fact, Castillo potentially cracking the Opening Day roster is something that may not be completely ruled out depending on what the Pirates do in terms of player acquisition and roster management this offseason.