The Blue Jays are signing infielder Rodolfo Castro to a minor league contract, reports Ari Alexander of 7News. He’ll be in major league camp next spring as a non-roster invitee.
Still just 26 years old (27 in May), Castro played in parts of three big league seasons from 2021-23, with most of that time coming in Pittsburgh. He hit .233/.299/.427 with 11 homers in 278 plate appearances back in ’22, but he’s an overall .219/.282/.380 hitter in 627 turns at the plate. Castro has walked in 8.1% of his major league plate appearances and gone down on strikes at a 27.9% clip. Prior to the 2025 season, Castro had been a switch-hitter who was considerably better as a right-handed hitter (.264/.331/.528) than as a left-handed hitter (.191/.268/.286).
In 2025, Castro dropped switch-hitting and focused on his right-handed swing, hitting .235/.324/.421 with 19 home runs and 18 steals in 133 games for the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate. He’s a career .236/.320/.434 hitter in parts of five seasons at the Triple-A level. Defensively, he has at least 1899 innings of professional experience at each of third base, shortstop and second base. Castro has posted sub-par grades in the middle infield but notched strong grades in his 315 big league innings at the hot corner. During his prospect days, Baseball America labeled him a serviceable defender at all three positions and profiled him as a future bench piece.
That’ll be the role for which Castro vies next spring. The Blue Jays technically have some infield openings right now, but they’ll attempt to bring Bo Bichette back in free agency and plug him into one of the two middle infield slots alongside Andres Gimenez. Addison Barger could play third base or right field, depending on how the rest of the offseason moves shake out. Ernie Clement is an option at any of second base, shortstop or third base. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., of course, is locked in at first base.
The bench is less certain, though the Jays could bring in some veteran help in that regard as well. For now, Davis Schneider and out-of-options Leo Jimenez are penciled into reserve roles. Bringing Bichette back or making a different infield acquisition could push Clement into a utility role, which would leave only one spot for Schneider, Jimenez and any non-roster invitees (assuming backup catcher Tyler Heineman and backup outfielder Myles Straw continue to hold the other spots).
The Bluejays are hoping this is Joey Bats all over again lol
this guy changes teams like most people change their underwear
So true! He’s been a member of… checks notes… the Pittsburgh, Philly and Toronto organizations since 2015!
The man thinks people change their underwear once every 3 years
maybe people like you, machumizer, but normal people change theirs daily
I thought about making this same kind of statement, but seeing as Gray is now onto only his 6th team (I myself cycle through britches at least 9 times per day) sort of a bad comparison. Good thing I didn’t make the mistake of posting any information on such a topic on here.
This pickup is nothing more than minor league depth.
@Ronin13
Yep. Just filling out the minors.
Castro had a real nice half-season with the Bucs in 2023, 1..4 WAR in 71 games with a 103 OPS+
Waiting for a Nolan Arenado deal at this point.
He a good reflection of the Pirates player development program these days. In other words, he’s not much of an impact player and less of a hitter. But he did have an unforgettable slide into 3rd base in which his cell phone popped out of his pocket
Ah, the memories of former Pirates. It’s all about the memories
Put some respect on his name “ [ESPN] Rodolfo Castro is the first player in the modern era (since 1900) to have each of his first 5 career hits go for HR. He’s the first Pirates player to have 5 straight hits go for HR at any point in his career since Willie Stargell in 1965.”