A strong first impression, but defensive work needed…
Overview
- Rating: 6.86
- 2024 stats: 25 games, 80abs .313/.368/.525 146 OPS+ .5 bWAR
- Date of Birth: September 27th, 1999
- Salary: Pre-arbitration, league minimum
- Status: Rookie Status intact, six years of control
Just based on offensive production, I think you can call Adrian Del Castillo’s 2024 season a success. In 105 games for AAA Reno, Del Castillo hit an impressive .312/.399/.603 good for a .425 wOBA and a 144 wRC+ in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. Del Castillo made a real impression in his 25 games in the big leagues, hitting .313/.368/.525 which works out to a .384 wOBA (weighted on base average) and a 146 wRC+, or 46 percent better than league average. In his first game at Chase Field, Del Castillo picked up three hits against the Philadelphia Phillies, including a walk-off, solo home run, which was recently voted Snakepit Play of the Year. I’d imagine he’s also front runner for the Snakepit’s Rookie of the Year.
Despite all the positives, there are some negatives, primarily his defensive shortcomings. A below average throwing arm and a pop time that was in the bottom ten of all MLB catchers leaves him as a liability when controlling the running game. 29 opposition players attempted a stolen base while Del Castillo was behind the plate. 27 of them succeeded – and one of the two that didn’t was the trick play discussed in our Play of the Year category, which resulted in an out at third-base. Brandon Pfaadt arguably deserves more credit for that particular “caught stealing,” I would say. These problems do make it questionable if Adrian has a long term future at the position.
However, If he can reduce his pop time by just a 1/10 of a second he’d improve to roughly league average. While that is easier said than done, and there’s only a sample of one, his time to third base is significantly better that his times to second base, which does gives me hope that he can improve. Another negative was Del Castillo’s pitch framing, which according to statcast, was also below average. Again though, we are talking about his age 24 season, and Adrian had little more than three hundred minor-league games before getting called up, so there should be some room for improvement.
I’d imagine the Diamondbacks will start the season with him on the roster, since Del Castillo’s right handed bat compliments Moreno’s left handed bat quite well, without a huge step down in offensive production. Additionally, with the free agencies of Christian Walker, Randall Grichuk, and Joc Pederson, it’s very likely Del Castillo will see time at first base and DH.