In thick of roster battle, Castro's focus is on 'consistency'

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The theme of this spring training is competition. There's not a lot of guaranteed playing time on this team, and plenty of starting jobs are up for grabs.

That even applies to positions where someone did quite well at the end of the season, like Rodolfo Castro.

Castro had some ups and downs last year, but finished on a very strong note, seemingly putting him in prime position to hold onto the second base job going into 2023. However, with the rise of Ji Hwan Bae to the majors and Tucupita Marcano also in the mix, Castro is in a position where he has to earn that spot.

"I know it's a competition, but the only thing I can control is going about my business every day," Castro said via interpreter Stephen Morales. "There's some things we can't control, and that's one of them, who's going to wind up there. I'm going to be able to control myself and be able to take that position. I want it. I want it really bad. I'm going to work hard for it."

The early returns for him this spring have been good, even if he went 0-for-2 in the Pirates' 9-7 loss to the Phillies at LECOM Park Monday. But a grand slam in the spring opener Saturday made sure he started this competition off in a big way.

He's shown his talent in flashes in the majors and finished strong. In his 200 plate appearances after his call up on August 9, Castro slashed .247/.310/.478 with 10 home runs and three stolen bases. Going by FanGraphs' WAR calculations, his 1.1 WAR during that stint was only bested on the team by Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz (1.2 WAR each).

So when he went back to the Dominican Republic this winter, the focus was to build on that strong finish. To work on his offense and especially his defense, as well as making sure he is in the best shape on the mental side of the game.

"One of the things I've been working on is to control my emotions," Castro said. "The game can get a little fast and that can take the best out of me emotionally. I've been looking for ways to improve that this year, for sure, when it comes to controlling myself when it comes to tough situations."

Castro had his share of tough situations, sometimes self-inflicted, even if incidental. He made one of the largest public blunders when he unknowingly brought his cell phone onto the field at Chase Field last year. He was demoted to the minors in May after failing to run out a ball.

"I was affected emotionally a little bit," Castro said about last year's demotion. "That’s the situation I’m talking about. I need to control what I can control and forget about that, continue to work hard and learn from the process. I learned from that particular situation last year, and I’m in a better spot now."

It's only tough love because Castro has the potential to pair with Cruz and provide one of the best power hitting middle infields in the majors. But that's only the half of what he wants to do this year.

“I want to be consistent on both ends, defensively and offensively,” Castro said. “I think I’m in a really good spot now.”

MORE FROM THE GAME

• JT Brubaker was dinked and doinked -- and to be fair, squared up on one Alec Bohm home run in the first -- while working heavily with the sinker early, but struck out the last five batters he faced in his two innings of work, mostly going with spin with the slider and his curveball. 

He did get his fastball up to 95 mph, so he is basically at his regular season velocity already.

"It's something that ramps up early throughout spring," Brubaker said about his velocity. "I didn't know that until someone asked me or someone said something about it. That's happy to see that's where my velo is right now."

On the rest of the pitching side, Wil Crowe was dinged for an inside the park home run in his one inning of work, but the two pitchers who were hit hard were Yohan Ramriez and Tyler Chatwood. Both are competing for bullpen jobs, and Ramirez allowed three runs on three hits, while Chatwood surrendered three runs on three hits and a walk, though he did strike out a pair.

The Pirates rallied for three in the bottom of the ninth, with two of those runs coming on a Drew Maggi bases loaded knock, but the late rally ultimately came up short. Endy Rodriguez went 2-for-2 with a double.

• Rule 5 pick Jose Hernandez showed off his power fastball early and often in his inning, routinely hitting 97 and 98 mph while tossing a scoreless frame, walking one and striking out one. His bullpen and roster spot are far from guaranteed, but so far, so good.

"He was down here early so I was able to see him throw at PC [Pirate City] before camp started," Shelton said. "Very good first impression of him.”

• Cal Mitchell rammed his left shoulder fairly hard into the edge of a left field advertisement on Crowe's home run allowed. He was checked out on the field, but stayed in and completed the game. Shelton said afterwards he is doing ok.

• Back at Pirate City, I had a conversation with Ke'Bryan Hayes about how he wants to approach his at-bats this year.

You can read it here, or you can check out this swing here:

That's not pressing for power. That's not forcing anything. That's just hitting the ball hard with the type of true spin he has been searching for.

"Whenever I'm hitting balls low and hard, line drives like that, I feel like that's when I'm at my best," Hayes said.

• It happened at the end of the 2022 season and it's getting a look at the start of 2023: Bryan Reynolds made the start in left.

The plan is for him to get reps in both left and center, something that can continue into the regular season.

"I think that’s something we could see, depending on what we do with Cutch [Andrew McCutchen] in terms of being on the field," Shelton said. "But I definitely think we could see Jack [Suwinski] in center and Bryan in left.”

 Chatting with Suwinski, he seems on board with the idea.

"It is a little weird," Suwinski told me. "I'm used to be on his left, but in right field or in left field. It's a little bit different, but it's nothing I don't think we can learn."

"We saw and we talked about last year that he became a better outfielder as the season went on at the major league level," Shelton said about Suwinski in center. "I think we’re going to continue to get a look at that.”