It’s been over two years since Rodolfo Castro made the jump straight from Double-A to the majors. He’s always been somewhat of a tantalizing player to follow, looking no further than his early time with the Pirates.
His first five hits were home runs, flashing an exciting all-or-nothing approach that has mostly defined him since then.
While he’s played in parts of three different seasons, he’s recently just played in his 150th regular season game.
In that time, Castro has a slash of .230/.307/.416 with a league average wRC+ of 100. The shining tool for him, the power, has come through, hitting 21 home runs in that span.
Last year only three second baseman hit 20+ home runs, showing the value that Castro potentially possesses.
So, after basically just a season’s worth of playing time, and the offensive upside he has shown, why does it appear that he’s been relegated to nothing more than a platoon player?
The obvious answer has been the wide margins in his ability to hit right and left-handed pitching.
Against left-handed pitching Castro has a career major league slash of .284/.354/.605 across 181 plate appearances, while sporting a wRC+ of 183. One way or another, he’s found his way into the lineup with a southpaw on the mound, for just cause.
Knowing the endgame, the Pirates still penciled Castro in against the Giants Tuesday night despite a righty starting, who was just an opener for Sean Manaea.
Facing righties have been a different story, with a .201/.281/.314 slash across 334 plate appearances. This year has been particularly rough, owning just a 49 wRC+ when turned around batting left-handed.
We’ve technically have a full season’s worth of a sample size on Castro, but yet some don’t seem quite as settled in relegating him to a platoon role despite it being over 300 plate appearances.
Rodolfo Castro got every bit of this one! pic.twitter.com/ojFtfGiIBH
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 23, 2023
There may actually a slight merit to that, actually. Last year was his largest sample size against right-handed pitching over a full season, at least at the major league level. It was also his best season, when it comes to wRC+ (83), while hitting from that side of the plate.
It’s still below league average, but maybe a better number, especially if he continues to hit lefties the way he has. So, basically, he had his best season hitting right-handed pitching the same year he faced it the most.
The home run splits were also surprisingly close (five vs RH, six vs LH) last year, and over the course of his career (eight vs RH, 13 vs LH).
Castro is a polarizing player, even if not for the best of reasons at times. Losing Oneil Cruz was a big blow for the 2023 Pirates team, but it did open a window to really get a long look at some of the other options they could potentially build around.
His power potential has proven to be powerful, and could give the Pirates incredible value at the position he’s best suited for.
Maybe 334 plate appearances was enough for the Pirates to make that decision. It’s also possible that more can be there.
Taking advantage of the added playing time available now can only pay off in the future, whether Castro being the answer or not. The power potential alone is worth double, and triple checking, however.
Daily Video Rundown
It hasn’t been the best of starts to the season for Bubba Chandler, but he showed some signs in his last start. He struck out seven in 4.2 innings, only walking one, but also allowed eight hits.
Fifth homer of the season for @and6alv! pic.twitter.com/I7Dy0B4ob8
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) May 31, 2023
Altoona’s first 20/20 player returned to Double-A this year, and while he’s a little off pace right now to repeat, Andres Alvarez still has that power that led to his success last year.
+ postsAnthony began writing over 10 years ago, starting a personal blog to cover the 2011 MLB draft, where the Pirates selected first overall. After bouncing around many websites covering hockey, he refocused his attention to baseball, his first love when it comes to sports. He eventually found himself here at Pirates Prospects in late 2021, where he covers the team’s four full season minor league affiliates.
Few notes:
Keller has 7 straight starts with at least 8 Ks. The 2020-22 teams probably went months without any starter getting 8.
Cutch should get hit #2000 in the homestand. Good chance he does it against the Cards.
The Pirates aren’t sure VV will return this year. And Oviedo isn’t throwing strikes, and Hill is springing leaks. They need Priester ready and need to promote prospects from AA. Otherwise, at some point we’re going to be seeing the likes of Caleb Smith, Tyler Chatwood and Kent Emanuel. Shelton will be in seventh heaven over the idea of having some veteran starters with double digit ERAs, but fans who give a s*** won’t.
More Keller:
2nd (T) in MLB in W (on pace for 21)
6th in K/9
2nd in Ks
2nd (T) in IP
Sheesh was that an ugly win! Scoring 9 can cover up a lot of crappy baseball though.
Dominant start for solo and massey pulled an oviedo with a decent overall line despite some walks
Gorski playing 2b, after starting at CF. So the comments are true, everyone plays 2b in our system.
I watched the game, 3 best take aways
Kyle Nicolas lights out
4-6-3 DP
Gorski feed was easy turn for Peggy to barehand a fire missile
Gorski’s bomb
446′ straight away
#ExtendKKKKKKKeller.
Those fans with the Jolly Roger are an embarrassment to Bucco fandom.
Welp, FInally won a series this month, the last series of the the month on the last game of the series on the last day of the month…..Here is to June!!!!
As bad as this month has been, they could end it tied for 1st in division. Crazy!
Baseball…..
Coming to the party late. Can Castro be more than a platoon player? Yes! Will he? Odds are against him, because baseball is hard. IMO, you play him and work with him everyday, because he has upside. He’s one of our most athletic players and he has power. One year of data on a young player is not enough. They all develop at different rates. Platooning him at this age is a hindrance to his development.
Oh, Raise it!!!
Blake Cederlind released.
Sad news. Had high hopes for him. Hope he saved his $$$. Spotrac has him with earnings of $2 mill, so he should have a cushion to find another line of work.
It happens, unfortunately. I expected Kyle McPherson to be a mainstay of the rotation until his combined TJ/elbow fracture.
Bummer. Feel bad for guys like him. Was on the cusp of the show and then his arm fell apart.
He didnt have it on rehab from what i saw sadly
Well Stephenson back on track…at least for today .
He seems fine given a clean inning. He’s not a fireman. Moreto is.
And just like that, Stephenson is gone to Tampa for a shortstop in AA…….
Not expecting Stephenson to be the Fireman that Moreta is. Stephenson is your guy to hold the 6th or 7th With a clean inning for 3 outs. Moreta is my guy to com in with guys on, your pitcher is blowing up and he can get you out unscathed. Different pitchers for different situations.
Kevin Young was saying on the radio broadcast earlier that he knew our minor league staff was happy to see Sabol do so well because he had been such a good player for them. I’m glad they’re rooting for him, but I wish that they had either recognized that he was MLB-ready or that they had been listened to by the FO.
But Vilade or whatever his name is, was worth a spot over him.
Vilade is not on the 40 man
Thank God
He was when they didn’t protect SABOL who is
+2 DFS in LF.
THE GUY WHO DIDN’T HAVE A POSITION HERE
IDIOTS
So, is the bullpen circle of trust still the same? I’d like to see them try Moreta in higher leverage situations. His pitching in the month of May has been unreal.
He was in with a runner on and non scored. Works for me 🙂
They gave us that run back.
Greg Brown knows a little more than he should …
Mitch without his best stuff today, can he get through another inning?
Got through 6 not a quality start by the book but he did well to go 6 and kept them ahead by 4 going to the 7th.
We’re giving away runs, both on the basepaths and now with yet another WP. Things usually don’t work out when you make this many mistakes, but maybe we’ll get another two innings from Keller and close it out with Holderman and Bednar.
But we are still up by 5……..Baseball….
Now 4….
Thankfully they gave us two back with the error on the DP ball. I’m anxious anyway ;), but would be much more so if it was 6-4.
Yep, baseball. This is one of those days where weird stuff happens to both sides but one seems to benefit more by the weirdness. Pirates, after being on the wrong side of games like this for most of May are on the right side…..at least though 7 now. lol!
If Hedges can’t play excellent defense, then why is he playing? I’m tired of him not catching the ball. I’m also tired of the one knee crap too.
Look at their record when he’s not playing, you’ll see why he is. But Endy & Davis will be here soon🤞🤞
What’s the record? Idk how to look that up. If your point is because they have a winning record, it’s not because he adds so much to the team they win because of him.
That was ugly–a defense-first (actually a defense-only) catcher can’t let that happen with two outs and a runner on third.
That should be a past ball
clearly a present one
Thats a good one,
played ball age 5-55 never heard
Still get asked, why did you call it quits? too old? Get married?
Our Catcher retired
It happened, so past is right!
Josh VanMeter would be an upgrade from Owings.
I think that JVM is still on the MiLB IL. Milwaukee has him now.
So would’ve Iglesias but he’s back with the Padres.
Was watching the Cubs-Rays game. Cubs starter was Steele, who is having a great season. He left after the third with “forearm tightness”. Hopefully it isnt as ominous as it sounds, but pitchers will break your heart.
The human arm was meant to do alot of things
Pitching isn’t one of them
The Rays are looking very human against the Cubs. It was bound to happen, but I hate that it’s against the Cubs.
3rd baseman just threw away the game ending dp ball. We’ll see if it costs them..
I watched that just before my post, but evidently they survived as I see the score has gone final.
Do Bucs lead the league in TOOTBLANs yet?
Only because the A’s don’t get on base enough
Get Hedges to the bullpen and bring up Davis.
That catching with one knee down doesn’t seem to be worth it and that’s through out the organization, or the very least Endy and Davis are doing it too.
Going on throughout all of baseball. Delay had 2 foul balls from the same batter go off of his extended left foot last night. Sill remember Sanguillen do that a lot and then Pena later on.
I always thought of those guys as two of the more athletic catchers. Very fun to watch.
Yups. Always felt bad for Manny that he had to play the same time as Bench. Never got the recognition that he deserved.
To look at the back of his bubblegum card is quite impressive
These two are not. And not.
No they are not. I am not for rushing Davis up here and have him have some struggles like Suwinski and Castro have had coming straight from AA. Davis, even if he plays lights out is not going to get them deep into the playoffs this season.
The answer to all headlines ending in a question mark is “no.”
B Rey with a ground ball with eyes!!
This offense is feast or famine.
Gladly enjoying feast today lol!
Not as much as Keller.
He is damned happy!
Thank you Mr., Hayes!!!!
Rudy making the offense go today.
Feel bad a bit it was Sabol as I still root for him to succeed but glad he dropped that one
Pretty poor when you have two bunters in your lineup and neither one is a pitcher.
I get Hedges bunting Bae over a base, but I wish they would let Bae attempt to steal second (then bunt him to third).
I can’t think of a better illustration of the poor job the FO has done.
Owings someone…
To put Castro in that position was cruel
Walk’s blaming it on Castro and it’s wrong, on a safety squeeze you break on contact, back on a miss.
To put Pirate fans in the position of watching these horses*** veteran presences is cruel.
I don’t know whether I’m more sick of Owings and Hedges, or of Shelton. How many times have these two screwed up sac bunts? They just. can’t. effing. play. baseball. But Dumbo can’t abandon the idea that veteran presences can be counted on to do baseball stuff.
They are all veterans of mediocrity
They can’t rise to the level of mediocrity in their wildest dreams.
Yeah, I guess I exaggerated their performance levels
Owings sightings are never good.
Chris Owings is so…awful.
Owings and castro squeeze here?
Oh good
It was………….suicide………….
Bless they’re hearts….
That’s some veteranocity right there.
Another quick TOOTBLAN
Almost a good hustling play by Joe. Better play by Wisely getting Joe’s hand off of the bag.
Terrible slide. Should be a Tootblan for the dumb slide.
Great hustle bad slice.
Bad slice………that is me of the tee…………….
Mitch needs his A game today with both Owings and Hedges in the lineup.
Having both Owings and Hedges in the lineup for the same game should not only be against the rules but also against the law.
I think what bothers me is why have both of them in with your best arm on the mound? Wouldn’t you want to maximize your chances to win?
Why have either in the game any time?
Unless it’s Greensboro.
Analogy:
Anthony uses his article to sell a car
Rare newer vehicle with a powerful engine
OFFENSE
To achieve max performance, use 2 times a week on downhill grade
WARNING WARNING- MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD RECALL
DEFENSE
BREAKING SYSTEM FAILS 1 IN EVERY 3 TIMES CAR IS USED
Rudy cleanup. Against a LHP, it’s pretty hard to argue.
BAT ONLY switch hitter USED ONLY vs LHP
P/T 27TH MAN ACTIVE ON THE WAY?
He’s the best choice, but I hope he doesn’t try to do too much–I always worry about that when a player is getting limited time. For example, will he expand the zone because he feels like he needs to show he can be a run producer?
I’m guessing it’s been mentioned here. Swaggerty’s wife dealing with rare blood disease.
Prayers for that family, they can’t catch a break.
Had not seen that myself. Thanks for the mention. Explains why he would be taking time away. Definitely prayers for his family. Hope all goes well with Peyton on her trip to the Mayo Clinic and they can find a cure for what she has. (Googled after reading that and found his tweet saying she was on her way to Mayo)
Doggone coon bit muh wife, is the most southern shit ever.
If that ain’t country, I’ll kiss your ass.
Explains a lot. Really sounds bad. Of all the freaking things, a raccoon bite.
I fear those things more than I should.
I worry more about the mischief they can cause, although sadly, as we see here, they can be rabid.
My great uncle had a property with a cabin on an island up in Canada. He had a storage area under the floor where he put stuff like cases of soda. This was way, way back when soda cans had the zip-top openers that came all the way off. He had a bunch of cases of soda in there and a raccoon got in and opened every single damn one of the soda cans.
That’s wild.
Oh man thats tough to hear, hoping the best for the Swaggerty family
Not sure where to place this comment since the site seems to be only limping along at the moment, so I’ll place it here.
Fangraphs came out with their latest power rankings and it is important to note given the Pirates poor record that in May they played 7 of the top 10 teams in baseball including the top 2: the Rays and the Rangers. The only teams equal to them (Fangraphs uses tiers too) are the Giants, and two teams were below them: the Tigers and Rockies.
I would love to have seen a few more wins this month even given that schedule but I think it provides some perspective.
In June we play no teams in the top 10. I think June will be kinder to our Buccos.
Mlb.com newsletter comes out with a story about how jack isnt going into second sliding but standing up as he did in the mariners game, knocking on all the wood that he doesnt wear one in the head or face as a result
Anyone remember Ali’s “rope a dope”
He will look silly but save face
Stand when it counts
Slide when your the 2nd out and Hedges is on deck
Does anyone have a progress report on how well Cruz is doing? Is he out of the cast? Has he put on a bunch of weight since he had to stay off the leg? Where is he? Back in the DR or in the Burg working with the training staff?
During the game yesterday they showed him signing autographs at an event in Pittsburgh, so there’s that!
Well, being out and about doing things is a good sign.
This is him over the weekend…..
The real answer is I have no idea….
According to updated stats from Baseball Reference
– In his 518 PAs over the last 3 seasons, Castro has accumulated 2.0 offensive WAR and -0.5 defensive WAR. This is his age-24 season and he’s making $725K.
– In his 1,171 PAs over the last 3 seasons, Hayes has accumulated 1.9 offensive WAR but with a 5.8 defensive WAR. This is his age-26 season and he’s making $10 million.
Defense is important – I believe it’s actually undervalued in today’s game – but it’s interesting that Castro has put up more offensive WAR than Hayes over the last 3 seasons in less than half the number of plate appearances. Certainly warrants a longer look/more opportunities for Castro to see what his level may actually be.
As for Hayes, he’s been trending downhill offensively since his 24-game flash season in 2020. There’s an ever-increasing likelihood that what we’ve seen from Hayes at the plate so far is what we’re going to continue to see the rest of the way. Can the rest of the Pirate lineup generate enough offense to “carry” the best-fielding 3B in the game? So far, the answer has been No.
Ke’Bryan Hayes is a terrific young man, works hard, and seems to want to improve offensively. His fielding is Brooks Robinson-like. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen any hitting improvement. In fact, as you note, there’s been regression. The Pirates seem to want to place him in ‘high stress’ situations. Maybe it would be better to move him to the bottom of the order where he might get better pitches to hit, and hopefully gain confidence. Another downside to this situation is that given Hayes’s offensive output, his contract is not warranted and might make management fearful about further extensions.
If they are fearful of extensions because of Hayes’s contract, then Reynolds would never have received an extension. Anyone in baseball management knows that teams will miss on some and do well with others. The type of contract that most teams will steer clear of are the $200-400 million guaranteed deals that are locked in for 10 or more years. Most teams do not have the cash flow to absorb one of those deals and have it go bad for at least half of it’s lifetime and be able to afford to pay any player of much talent to replace.
That makes sense and you’re probably right. My contract remark is cautionary and comes from personal paranoia. Though probably incorrect, it seems to me that for the Pirates whatever can go wrong, does go wrong.
Maybe they should be!
I don’t know man, the extension narrative has taken on way too much of a dogmatic feel for me. As if it’s an unmitigated good. Dudes were falling over themselves to sign Bryan Reynolds’ agents initial contract that was so lopsided in the player’s favor that he actually conceded in order to get the eventual deal signed!
There just ain’t that much value to be found in these things anymore, and yet the fervor to lock in guys long term is stronger than ever. What are we tryin’ to accomplish?
I could never be a GM. I committed to a BOGO 6 pack of New Belgium Fruit Force IPA due to the price and the 9.5% ABV. Tastes like butt and I regret extending my credit card to that damn machine. I would be the type of GM that only signs Busch Ice and the occasional BOGO microbrew IPA that doesn’t include fruit punch.
(For anyone wondering Publix Grocery Stores in the SE actually put beer, wine, and other alcoholic drinks BOGO sometimes).
You have to be careful drinking the fruit force. 9.5% sneaks up on you real fast.
I ended up chasing them with Busch Ice. Chasing a 6 pack that sold for around 14$ pre sale with bottle barrel stuff. Shows the GM I would be.
LOL! You made me remember the last time that I every changed my own oil. Would have been in 1987 after bought a 1986 Pontiac Grand Am. Loved that carl Went to buy a filter and oil. Was a BOGO on the filters. Had to buy a smaller filter wrench cause I had a standard size and too big for the size of filters for the Grand Am. Crawl under and…..found the filter and it was upright up against firewall. As soon as i cracked the seal, oil everywhere. Never used the 2nd filter or that wrench ever again….. total mess!
I had a Grand Am too in the early 2000s. Probably a 92. Uncle pieced it all together from a junk yard. Had Chevy Cavalier rims. Multi colored. I put a CD player in it and just cruised around waiting for the gals to whistle at me. Helped build up patience.
LOL! Now I have Johnny Cash and “One Piece at a Time” running through my head! Thanks for that!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uErKI0zWgjg
I am all about the mind games. Glad I could get your to remember a song and an old car experience.
I’m gettin old and wasting my remaining brain power on a Grand Am and Johnny Cash of all things…….
I remember driving my Grand Am and listening to Johnny Cash hoping a wheel wouldn’t blow off on the PA turnpike . Got on at Allegheny Valley Interchange and knew no one would want to come help once I got past Delmont or New Stanton. Younger me was a toll booth Willie at Butler County Interchange for a summer.
Brave soul driving the Pike with a pieced together car. lol! Never would have had the guts
If I would have tried and a wheel flew off, I could hear my dad tell me that if was that stupid to try to drive that far with that car, I could figure out my own way home for punishment 🙂
Here’s another imperfect, very young prospect with holes you could drive a Mack truck through. Back at AA this year he is mashing with an OPS over 900. in this new age of metrics, can we throw away the concern about batting average and insane strikeouts if we are getting insane walks plus huge power? We’ve seen enough KO Kings fail but I look at Jack Suwinski and think, maybe this is a good value play the Pirates are studying.
Castro at 2nd and Bae in CF for a month and see what happens. They may lose a few games, but I suspect they would lose them anyway. Jack in RF as well. Juggling them around may seem like a good solution but I really don’t see the long range benefits.
Juggling around should only happen in the minors as far as I’m concerned.
I bet that will happen in 4 of the next 6 games since the bucs will be facing LHP
I like this idea, gives each an opportunity to establish themselves and the team to at least weed out the surplus or identify their future roles.
Players seem to flourish until they get to Pittsburgh then the regression begins.
If you are talking about minor leaguers, that would be about 75-80% of them across the league. Many kids regress upon facing major league talent. Those few that can adjust and improve stay. Those that don’t have a career bounding around baseball between the minors and making it to the bigs for a cup of coffee when a player gets hurt only to get DFAd as soon as the player gets healthy or a better option is found.
I think that’s a good sign for Bubba, might have gave up some hits but only 1 walk and 7 K’s hopefully a sign the control is coming around. Get the control then work on the command.
Sorry. As much as I want Bubba to be a great SP for us, I didn’t see it in that clip. I’m a lot more impressed with the clips I see of Solometo. Bubba threw hard, but he couldn’t seem to control his arm-side run. He also wasn’t terribly effective in this game at making his breaking pitch a threat. He got a couple of bad swings on inside pitches (to RHHs), but I didn’t see him getting strikes looking or swinging at pitches that end up well off the plate.
All that said, he is still very young, has a great make-up by all reports, and still has every chance to be very good. Fingers crossed.
I’m just glad he’s finding the strike zone, I think he’s dialing down his stuff to work on control. My 1a is Jones followed by 1b Solometo. Again just encouraged he’s showing progress with control.
Anthony’s edits are such an awesome service. 7 minutes gives you a heck of an idea about the kid.
Totally agree
For non-switch-hitters a “season’s worth of PAs” is ~600 and that’s what I’d like to see Castro get against righties, and not just one here and there as a late-inning replacement or due to a pitching change in a game that he’s started against a lefty.
I’m a Castro fan but acknowledge the jury is still out; I just want to see him given a fair opportunity to earn being an everyday player. I don’t think relegating him to be the weak side of a platoon after only ~300 PAs against righties is fair or wise.