Maximo Castillo Is a Jays Pitching Prospect You Should Get To Know
5 years ago
What were you doing at 19? I was skipping this lame Jane Austen class I had to take in my first year of university. I was also spending too much time at the casino in Niagara Falls. Damn, I miss being 19 and all the shenanigans. But, I don’t miss writing all those boring essays – that’s for sure.
19-year-old Jays pitching prospect Maximo Castillo isn’t writing essays at Brock University, but he is throwing strikes in Lansing, and he’s starting to make a little prospect-y noise, too. And he most definitely has a cool name.
If he ever ends up in the big leagues, there will be no problem coming up with a nickname for him to put on the back of his jersey for the fun ‘players’ weekend’ thing that the MLB marketing team hit a home run with.
I hate to go for the low hanging fruit, but the obvious choice would be Mad Max, in my opinion. But, maybe Gladiator Maximus works, too. My good friend Jesse Goldberg-Strassler, who I spoke to about this promising young arm pitching in Lansing, had some fun ideas for his nickname like Mad Maximo, Mighty Maximo, To The Maximo, and Maximum Maximo. Jesse informed me that his actual nickname is ‘Maxi’ and he has it stitched on his glove.
All jokes aside, RHP Maximo ‘Maxi’ Castillo is a name that you will probably get to know if you haven’t heard of him yet, as he continues to develop pitches and hurl his way through the Jays’ system.
The 6’ 2” young Venezuelan was a 2015 IFA. Last year, he put up some impressive numbers in the Appy League going 6 – 0 with a 3.80 ERA if you’re into back-of-the-baseball-card kind of stats. But, what’s most impressive from his season in the Appy League is his 22.5 K-BB%. He threw 730 pitches and 505 of them were strikes, so Castillo can find the zone. Although he did give up 54 hits in 47 IPs, so there’s that.
In Lansing, Castillo has begun to dominate the Midwest League. He’s 9-5 with a 4.68 ERA and has a 1.44 WHIP – so he’s still giving up some contact. However, he’s fanned 101 so far this season while only surrendering 38 walks. I asked Jesse if he thinks Castillo is the real deal since he has had eyes on him all season long:
I think he’s super young and intriguing. Very, very raw and still learning what he’s doing, especially when it comes to his secondary stuff. (Some starts, he has a changeup. Some starts, he has a curve ball.) So I think he’s years away, but I also think he’s a Major League prospect.
I’ve wanted to write about Castillo for some time, but I can’t honestly speak about his talent because I’ve only watched him pitch a couple of times. But, right now he is one of the hottest pitchers in the Jays’ farm system. I asked Jesse to share some of his thoughts on Castillo, especially what he’s been doing lately:
How does 18 strikeouts compared to two walks in his last three starts/17 innings sound? In four of his last five starts, he’s thrown exactly six innings (in the outlier, he gave up one earned run in five innings), which sounds very much like consistency, the magic goal for all young players.
The question about Maximo is how good can he be? Will he be a dart-throwing two-seam sinkerballer, or is he an overwhelming power pitcher with velocity in the mid to upper 90s? Both of those possible futures exist, and it makes him one of the most intriguing starters on the Lugnuts.
He definitely is an intriguing pitcher. For Jays fans out there who haven’t heard of Castillo, what would you tell them?
He’s a legit 6’2, 255 pounds, and is just figuring out how good he can be. The Yankees first tried to sign him as a third baseman. When that fell through, his agent told him to try pitching — and the Blue Jays were convinced he could make it on the mound. Three years later, he’s putting up increasingly dominant numbers in the Midwest League as the youngest player on the Lugnuts. He’s definitely worth watching as he makes his way up the ladder.
Castillo is only 19-years-old and is still many miles away from Blue Jays Way. However, he’s another pitching prospect in the Jays’ system that you can start to be excited about. There’s a lot to like about this MLB prospect’s potential.
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