The Diamondbacks will select catching prospect Adrian Del Castillo to fill the vacancy left by Gabriel Moreno’s left groin strain. Del Castillo was selected as the 67th overall selection from the University of Miami in the 2021 MLB Draft. A little more than three years later, he’ll make his major league debut for Arizona.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Diamondbacks were asked for Del Castillo leading up to the trade deadline, but Hazen rebuffed all offers to trade him. This was his explanation at the time.
“He’s our third catcher in Reno. And I can’t do that to the major league team, you know, as much as maybe improving the roster by going and making a trade. We love the kid. We think he’s going to be a really good offensive catcher.”
The main carrying tool is a solid hit tool and burgeoning power that seems to be improving with each passing season. His defense lags behind the bat, but given the situation the team finds themselves in, they need to find someone who can carry the offensive load. He’s been working hard with catching coordinator Robby Robertson to shore up his defense, but with a below-average arm has some limitations the team will have to deal with.
Del Castillo is coming off a breakout season with Triple-A Reno. In 100 games, he’s put up a .319/.403/.608 slash line with 36 doubles and 24 home runs. Considering the extreme run environment of Reno, and the Pacific Coast League in general, it’s important to adjust his numbers to be relative to the league. FanGraphs does that with their wRC+ stat, which estimates Del Castillo to be 43% better than the league-average hitter with a 143 wRC+.
The amazing part about his season has been the overall consistency. His lowest single-month OPS sits at .932 while hitting no worse than .274. Some of that has to do with the league environment, but considering how consistent he’s been from the start of the season, it’s an encouraging sign. As a top prospect with a solid future, those are all things a team would want to see before calling him up to the big leagues.
When evaluating prospects at such extreme hitting environments, Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen acknowledged the difficulty when it isn’t rooted in strong plate discipline in December. In his second stint in Reno, Del Castillo has significantly cut down his strikeout rate from 28.9% to 16.8% without sacrificing walks, which just a drop from 12.6% to 11.5%. That in itself is a significant improvement in that area, even if his chase rate is relatively the same.
The biggest improvement has been his ability to make contact when he swings the bat, especially on pitches in the strike zone. His zone contact rate has jumped from 83.9% with Reno in 2023 to 87.0% in 2024. He’s been more aggressive at pitches in the strike zone, with a 7% jump in zone swing rate in 2024 from 61.9% to 68.7%. Long story short, he’s been much better at getting to pitches in the strike zone and doing damage with them.
The Diamondbacks will need Del Castillo to help carry the load offensively while Moreno recovers from his groin strain. The team will have to make both a 40-man and active roster move, although it’s pretty much a certainty that Moreno hits the 10-day injured list.
Diamondbacks starting catcher Gabriel Moreno leaves game vs. Guardians with left groin strain
Torey Lovullo announces Adrian Del Castillo call-up as Gabriel Moreno heads to IL
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, exclusive content, and access to our seasonal magazines! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*
Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
