The Blue Jays have claimed pitcher Anthony Castro from the Tigers
By Cam Lewis
3 years agoSound the alarm, something finally happened!
The Blue Jays have claimed Anthony Castro from the Detroit Tigers. The right-handed pitcher had been designated for assignment by the organization in order to clear room on the 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft.
Castro is an interesting addition. MLB Pipeline has him ranked as the Tigers’ No. 17 prospect right now (for the sake of comparison, Patrick Murphy and Julian Merryweather are ranked No. 17 and No. 20 respectively in the Blue Jays’ system) and the word is that he has an electric arm with a wonky delivery and major command issues.
Here’s what Pipeline has to say…
The intrigue around Castro centers around a fastball that sits at 93-95 but works up to 97 mph with cutting action. His slider was a quality chase pitch for him against Double-A hitters, while his changeup has shown enough improvement to throw in different counts. The combination has enough movement that hitters struggle to square him up, evidenced by a low home run rate. However, it also costs him in command, coupling a 10.2 K/9 rate with 5.7 BB/9. Though scouts view his best fit as a reliever, he has been much stronger in a starting role, where he’s better able to repeat his upright delivery.
He spent most of his 2020 season at the Tigers’ Alternate Training Site but did get a very small cup of coffee at the major league level in which he allowed a walk and a two-run homer over one inning of work.
Castro had his entire 2015 season derailed after having Tommy John surgery but has come back to pitch very well in the minors since. In 2017, he posted a 2.49 ERA in Low-A and, in 2018, he posted a 3.34 ERA between High-A and Double-A. His most recent minor-league season was 2019, in which he had a 4.40 ERA in Double-A with 10.2 strikeouts per nine and 5.7 walks per nine working as both a starter and a reliever.
The hope for the Blue Jays, it would seem, is that Castro can make the pivot to the bullpen and become an effective reliever for the team. If they can fix his problematic delivery and his command issues, there could be something there.
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