MLB: KC Royals sign next utility player and he’s a Dominican rookie

The Kansas City Royals They announced that they signed the infielder, Iván Castillo, with a minor league contract. The 26-year-old had been eliminated from the San Diego Padres 40-man roster at the end of the season, making him eligible to sign a juvenile compact during the ongoing transaction freeze.

Castillo made an incredibly short major league debut in 2021. He appeared in three games with San Diego in May, adding a single and a walk in four plate appearances:

The switch-hitter spent the entire season with the Frailes’ top affiliate in El Paso, posting a .287 / .326 / .366 line with three home runs in 435 plate appearances in a hitter-friendly environment.

While Castillo was right to get the ball into play (his 17.5% strikeout rate was well below the MLB average of 22.6%), he didn’t draw many walks or hit for an extra base hit.

That largely matches Castillo’s overall record in the minors. At just 5’9 ″ (1.75 meters), 179 pounds (81 kilos), he doesn’t bring much raw power to the batter’s box. But he’s a quality contact hitter with extensive experience at shortstop, second and third base.

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Castillo, who has also spent time on the farm systems of the then Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays, was ranked by Baseball America as the 28th prospect in the San Diego organization going into 2021. Presumably he will try to compete for a utility position in Kansas City next spring.

Rafael Martinez

I am fond of the King of Sports, especially the Boston Red Sox in MLB and in general all of Mexican baseball. This profession has given me the opportunity to cover major events such as the Caribbean Series, the LMB All Star, LMP (uninterrupted since 2009), signings of important players. I had the chance to attend the 2013 World Classic in Arizona, USA, albeit as a fan. Apart from this beautiful sport, I love basketball, where I have also narrated games and even an NBA friendly 10 years ago, but I carry baseball in my veins. Graduated in Communication Sciences from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) , from which I graduated in 2011. I was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa and started in the world of sports journalism in 2004 in the newspaper El Sol de Mazatlán, where I was a baseball columnist and reporter at the same time. In January 2009 I came to El Debate as a journalist reporter and it was almost six years (in the first stage), until in November 2014 I emigrated to the radio providing my services in Línea Directa-Grupo RSN. My cycle there ended in July 2019 and within days, El Debate gave me another opportunity to work and opened the doors for me again. That is how I came to Al Bat, where I have been since 2019 as a web journalist.

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