The Twins announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Diego Castillo. The club opened a 40-man roster spot by transferring right-hander Justin Topa to the 60-day injured list. They opened an active roster spot yesterday by optioning left-hander Kody Funderburk. Going into yesterday, they were using 39 spots on their 40-man but reinstated right-hander Josh Winder from the 60-day IL and optioned him to Triple-A. Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press was among those to relay the Winder news on X.
Declan Goff of SKOR North relayed on X yesterday that Castillo was on his way to join the team but Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com relayed on X that “travel snags” were preventing Castillo from getting to the ballpark. The St. Paul Saints were playing in Buffalo and Castillo had been making his way from upstate New York. The righty didn’t make it on time and this transaction had to wait a day but is now finally official.
Castillo, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Twins back in March and has tossed 18 innings for the Saints. He has allowed 2.50 earned runs per nine innings while striking out 29.7% of batters faced, giving out walks at an 8.1% clip and getting grounders on 54.5% of balls in play.
Perhaps that gives the Twins some hope that he can back to his previous form at the big league level. The righty pitched 259 2/3 innings for the Rays and Mariners over the 2018 to 2022 period. In that time, he had a 3.12 ERA, 28.1% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate and 50.7% ground ball rate.
The 2023 season was a struggle for Castillo, as he had a 6.23 ERA through 8 2/3 innings when the Mariners outrighted him off their 40-man roster. He also had a 5.13 ERA in Triple-A last year and elected free agency at season’s end. He signed a minor league deal with the Rangers but didn’t make that club out of camp, which then led to his minor league deal with the Twins.
If Castillo can put that rough 2023 campaign behind him, he’ll be a nice find for the Twins and one that could theoretically help them beyond this year. He came into 2024 with four years and 150 days of service time. Since he won’t be able to get to the six-year mark this year, he could be retained for 2025 via arbitration. He also has a couple of options left and can be sent back down to Triple-A, but there’s a bit of a ticking clock there. He’s 22 days away from getting to five years of service and can’t be optioned without his consent once he hits that line.
As for Topa, his move is a mere formality. His “60 days” are backdated to his original IL placement, which was at the end of March. That means he’s already been on the IL more than 60 days and can be reinstated whenever he’s healthy, which is not imminent. Two weeks ago, he was diagnosed with a partial tear in the patellar tendon in his left knee, with a no-throw plan of six weeks.
Winder landed on the 60-day IL back in February when the Twins acquired Manuel Margot. He has been rehabbing for about a month and is now healthy enough to be reinstated, though the club will keep him in Triple-A as optionable depth until needed.
Is it him or this guy: baseball-reference.com/players/c/castidi02.shtml
I think they have it right relief pitcher Diego Castillo. What’s funny is both of them are in the Twins system right now
that’s crazy XD
… He couldn’t get from Buffalo to Minnesota “on time”? The Twins are so worried a bout Bally that they won’t buy plane tickets?….
“Wont buy plane tickets”….When you “buy plane tickets”, you’re subject to the schedules, delays, change overs and weather conditions of the airline carrier. The Twins likely bought the plane tickets, but they also most likely paid for regular commercial tickets, not the luxurious charter flights of the rich & famous that operate on the schedules of the passengers.
I have a hard time believing there wasn’t a timely flight from BUF to MSP yesterday. It’s possible, but that’s like McDonald’s running out of French Fries
As a person who books flights regularly I can confidently say that one flight from many airports to MSP is a norm. On top of that the only flight might be a 7pm flight. After COVID airlines slashed their flights a lot.
When the Triple=A affiliate was in Rochester, NY, the guy in charge of booking flights for players (Dustin Morse) stated that there was a single flight from Rochester to Minneapolis and it was always in the mornings. If the transaction occurred after that flight, the player wasn’t making it to Minnesota until the next day.
I have no idea what it’s like going from Buffalo to Minneapolis, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it was similar.
Was one of the best relievers in baseball for my Rays for a hot minute, not sure what happened to him
“One of the best relievers”..Years ago Castillo(when he was successful)was seemingly in love with his slider, although he had a very good fastball. A lot of his problems were sequencing, pitch selection and between the ears in my honest opinion. The guy is a bit of a head case.
Twins love slider guys, but they rarely pan out
He was averaging about 98 MPH with his fastball when he debuted. Last year, it was down to 94 MPH. Probably hadn’t learn how to adjust as his velo disappeared. Still averaging 94 MPH in the minors this year, but maybe he’s figured out how to pitch with lesser stuff now.
“Down to 94 MPH”..
I mostly watched him in his Mariner’s career and you could sit on his slider and be correct about 75% of the time. Very few pitchers have stuff good enough to telegraph it the way Castillo did.
I’d love to know what Jorge Alcala did to get in the doghouse he’s in. Was wonderful in the majors, doing more of the same in the minors.
He’s been pitching. take a look…watch him …He’s lucky he hasn’t been DFA’d.