Castro clears the roof with raw power, raises his potential

BRADENTON, Fla. -- A late, towering grand slam by Rodolfo Castro made it a game at the end, but ultimately the Pirates fell just short of completing the comeback against the Phillies Sunday, losing at LECOM Park, 6-5.

Even if it was in a losing effort Castro’s seventh inning home run was something to behold, going over the facade in left and leaving the ballpark:

Statcast failed to register how far it went, so let your imagination run wild on the analytics. You probably won’t be far off.

But if you want a point of reference to work from, he also homered Saturday against the Yankees, and that ball had an exit velocity of 105.4 mph. Needless to say, the raw power has been showing up the last few days for him.

“We saw the home run yesterday that was a two-iron, and today… you don't see very many guys go up top on the thing,” Derek Shelton said. 

If you want to go by little league rules, that’s actually three days in a row with a home run for Castro. On Friday, he hit a fly ball to left that the fielder wound up dropping, unbeknownst to him. Castro kept running and would end up scoring on the play.

“It's a credit to the kid,” Shelton said, reflecting on that play a few days later. “I mean, he went hard out of the box the entire time and never stopped and we ended up winning the game because of it."

That one doesn’t show up on the scoresheet, but it does leave an impression on coaches and the front office.

Castro, 21, is currently ranked as the Pirates’ 29th best prospect by Baseball America, but most evaluators agree there are some good tools there, especially power. He also can play around the infield, though he has been prone to some fielding miscues, including this spring. It comes with the territory of a raw, but promising, player.

He was invited to the Pirates alternate site during the regular season and then the instructional camp in October. It was at the latter location that Shelton got to know him a bit, and grew to like him as a person and a player.

The Pirates felt the same, adding him to the 40-man roster last November rather than risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft, despite the fact that he had yet to play above Class A. 

It’s because of that lack of experience in the upper-levels of the minors that Castro, despite his tear this spring, is almost surely not going to make the opening day team. He should be on the radar for 2022, though, and he’s made sure to make a good first impression this spring.

“It's exciting to see our young guys do things like that and have consistent at-bats and to kind of get their feet wet,” Shelton said.

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Steven Brault continued to get stretched out, going three innings and throwing 48 pitches, but he was hit hard, allowing three runs on five hits, a walk and a homer.

"He was on the plate, in the zone," Shelton said. "A little bit of contact that he probably didn't want, but overall, he walked off healthy and continues to take strides to the regular season, which is a good thing."

• Miguel Yajure followed with innings of his own, and while the first was a clean, efficient 1-2-3 frame, he got hit around a bit in the fifth, allowing two runs. He did strike out three on the day, though.

"He's done a nice job," Shelton said. "Today he got behind twice and give up 3-0 base hits. I think both times he got behind with three breaking balls and went to a fastball, so just a learning experience for him, how to use his stuff. Initial reaction watching him, I really like him."

He also made the prestigious Pitching Ninja's Twitter feed for this wipeout slider, so that's a feather in his cap:

Chasen Shreve, Clay Holmes and Kyle Crick each worked around a hit and struck out a batter in their scoreless frames. Michael Feliz allowed a home run in his inning of work.

• It might be time to retire the "Crick watch" bullets in these spring stories. The fastball was consistently 93-94 mph, and every one of his sliders had at least 3,300 RPM of spin, meaning it was moving.

Stuff wise, he looks leagues better than he did in 2020.

• The game ended on an unusual note. With a runner and first and two outs, Will Craig his a slow roller to third, but the throw was rushed and a bit off, so Craig beat the throw. Except he didn't. He and the first baseman had a small collision on the play, and the umpire called that Craig's foot hit the first baseman's foot, not the bag. He was tagged out and the game was ruled over. 

Shelton said that if it was a regular season game, the Pirates would have reviewed the call. They probably would have won.

• Jacob Stallings turned on a Matt Moore cutter in the first inning for a home run. Yes, it's a small sample size, but he's now batting .333 with a 1.133 OPS this spring.

• Very good news for Anthony Alford, who left Saturday's game after being hit in the wrist with a pitch. As it turns out, it's just a contusion, not a break or fracture.

Shelton said he participated in baseball activities Sunday and will be monitored. Right now, he is day-to-day.

• The Reds claimed Carson Fulmer off waivers Sunday, officially concluding Fulmer’s second stint with the Pirates. He was designated for assignment last week after the Pirates acquired right-hander Duane Underwood Jr. from the Cubs.

Fulmer didn't appear in a regular season game in either of his stints with the Pirates.

• The Pirates are heading out to Sarasota, Fla. Monday to take on the Orioles. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

Tyler Anderson will get the start, and top pitching prospect Quinn Priester will come on in relief at some point to make his spring debut. Chris Stratton, Sean Poppen, Nick Mears, James Marvel and Edgar Santana will also pitch.