Pittsburgh Pirates: Looking at Rodolfo Castro’s 2021 Season

The Pittsburgh Pirates used one of their prospects in a unique way last season.  What could 2022 have in store for the infielder?

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a very interesting decision to make regarding prospect Rodolfo Castro.  Castro made his Major League debut last season straight from Double-A.  However, after a hot start to his Big League career, Castro round himself in a bit of a slump before being demoted.  Castro would finish the 2021 season in Triple-A.

Rodolfo Castro had some high-highs and some low-lows in 2021. Let’s first start off with the good. The infielder started the year off at Double-A, batting .315/.359/.553 with a .386 wOBA, and 142 wRC+ through his first half of the season. He also did extremely well during his brief stint at Triple-A.  He put together 10 hits, including 4 doubles and 3 homers, along with 3 walks in 35 plate appearances. Castro also made his major league debut and hit 5 home runs through his first 93 plate appearances in the majors.

Now here’s the bad. Before Castro received his promotion to Triple-A, he had a sub-.300 OPS and negative wRC+ (-18) from July 20th through September 19th. Even when he was batting well, which was up through July 18th, Castro only walked 5.1% of the time. While Castro showed off great power in the majors, he also went down on strike three 27 times while only having a 75 wRC+.

Entering the 2022 season the Pittsburgh Pirates need to figure out where Castro will fit in.  He has the pop to earn consistent at-bats at the Big League level, but he also could get more of those at Triple-A.  Still, calling him up last year suggests that management believes he is ready for Big League ball.

The 22-year-old will be given a chance to make the roster out of Spring Training, although he may be on the outside looking in.  The team has several other infield options including Michael Chavis, Hoy Park, Cole Tucker, and potentially Oneil Cruz.  Castro would have to come into Spring and really impress to force his way onto the roster.  If not we may not see him in 2022 until there is an injury.