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2024 SnakePit Play of the Year: Adrian Del Castillo walks it off

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Philadelphia Phillies v Arizona Diamondbacks
Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images

Two games in, and Del Castillo made a now-indelible mark on team history.

There was a wide spread of opinions with regard to a winner here, five of the six candidates ending up in double-digits. But only one was able to secure more than a quarter of the votes. With 35%, the win goes to someone who was making only his second major-league appearance…

Adrian Del Castillo wasn’t even supposed to be on the roster. A 2021 draft pick in a competitive balance round, he had been moving up in the D-backs’ prospect rankings, but was still outside the top ten. However, the team needed another catcher, having previously designated Tucker Barnhart for assignment. When Gabriel Moreno hit the injured list on August 6th with a strained left groin muscle, Del Castillo was sent on the bus from Reno, and made his debut the following day. While there were questions regarding Del Castillo’s defense, he had posted strong numbers, even for the Pacific Coast League, with a 1.011 OPS over a hundred appearances for Reno.

He started the night-cap of a double-header in Cleveland on August 7th, then returned home to make his Chase Field debut two days later. This came against the powerful Phillies, who had the best record in baseball coming into the game. But considering this was only his second appearance, Adrian had a fabulous game. He gave Arizona the lead with an RBI single in the first, added a lead-off single in the sixth, and called a great game for starter Ryne Nelson, who took a perfect game into the fifth, and the D-backs bullpen. Said Nelson afterwards, “Adrian did a super good job behind the dish today, we were on the same page the whole night.”

Justin Martinez tossed a scoreless top of the ninth with the game t2-2, setting the stage in front of 37,952 fans at Chase Field. The Phillies sent up All-Star closer Jeff Hoffman, who had come into August with an ERA for the year below one, and had allowed only three home-runs to the 199 batters he had faced. Del Castillo led things off, but had an edge in his back pocket. That came courtesy of team-mate Gerardo Perdomo, who had advised the catcher that Hoffman tended to throw fastballs. Del Castillo was therefore looking for one, and the first pitch proved to his liking. For it was a 97 mph fastball, which left the bat at 106.9 mph, flying 416 ft to right for a walk-off homer, and a one-pitch loss for Hoffman.

Naturally, this ensured he didn’t get the typical silent treatment rookies get when they hit their first home-run, Adrian instead being mobbed by his team-mates as he touched home-plate. For he was the first D-back ever to have a walk-off as their first homer. Said manager Torey Lovullo post-game: “I get so excited for the kids that come up through our player development. I felt like I was 18 years old again for a few minutes. And that’s always a nice feeling. And I think everyone felt that for Adrian. It was a special moment for him. He hits his first Major League home run. It’s a walk-off in a pennant race, and it doesn’t get any better. I couldn’t help but get caught up in the emotion of it.”

It wasn’t the end of a memorable debut season for Del Castillo. Ten days later, he’d hit a grand-slam, giving him a total of 14 RBI over his first nine games. That was the most by a National League player since RBI became an official statistic in 1920. He remained on the roster even after Moreno returned to the team, and his bat proved as advertised, delivering a triple-slash line of .313/.368/.525 for an OPS of .893. As a result of his efforts, Del Castillo was honored by the team as their minor-league position player of the year, and despite playing in only 25 games, was named to MLB Pipeline’s All-Rookie Second Team. He looks set to play an important part of the team, in 2025 and beyond.

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