The Pirates are close to trading Rodolfo Castro to the Phillies for left-handed pitcher Bailey Falter, pending medicals, per sources.
Falter, 26, made eight appearances, seven of them starts, with the Phillies this year, going 0-7 with a 5.13 ERA. His fastballs -- both four-seamer and sinker -- sit just north of 90 mph, along with low spin breaking balls, a slider and curveball, and a changeup.
Falter was a fifth-round draft pick in 2015 and was ranked as their No. 22 prospect by Baseball America in 2022. FanGraphs had him ranked as their No. 6 Phillies prospect in 2021. He has pitched 158 innings in the majors, posting a 4.56 ERA and 136 strikeouts.
The Pirates are going to need innings covered in the majors after trading Rich Hill to the Padres earlier in the day, and Falter is definitely a major-league option. Talking with local media after the deadline had passed, Ben Cherington stated that Falter is someone they have liked for years.
"Left-handed pitcher, strike thrower, deceptive, pitched on a big stage, pitched with a good team, pitched in a tough pitcher’s park in Philly," Cherington said. "PNC is a nice park for a lefty with his style. We’ve always kind of felt like he was going to be a good fit for our team and our ballpark and have asked the Phillies about him a number of times over the last couple years."
In exchange, the Pirates are sending over Castro, who had fallen out of favor after a turbulent season. He was demoted to Class AAA Indianapolis on July 16 after serving as a backup and platoon for most of the year. While he was the original replacement at shortstop after Oneil Cruz suffered a significant ankle injury in April, his range became an issue. His -6 Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant, was tied with teammate Tucupita Marcano for the sixth-worst among shortstops.
With rookies Nick Gonzales, Liover Peguero, Jared Triolo and Alika Williams all in the majors now -- as well as the anticipated returns of Cruz and Ke'Bryan Hayes, the latter of which is expected to happen very soon -- there wasn't a clear pathway for Castro to return to the majors this year, even after Marcano was placed on the 60-day injured list last week with a right knee ligament injury.
"I think it’s really just the maturation of the whole infield group and looking where we’re going forward, both the guys who are currently here on the 26-man, on our 40-man, likely to be on our 40-man soon," Cherington said. "Really considering the overall infield depth and opportunity to add a left-handed starter. We didn’t come into the deadline looking to trade Rudy or anything like that. Just felt an opportunity to get a left-handed starter we like and you have to give up something."
Castro slashed .228/.317/.355 with six home runs and 22 RBIs in 78 games with the Pirates this season. He hit .226 with 22 home runs in parts of three seasons with the Pirates.
