Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Miguel Castro
Player Data:Age: 25, B/T: R/R
Primary Stats: 10 G, 1-2, 9 IP, 4.00 ERA, 14 K/9, 8.00 BB/9, 2.111 WHIP
Advanced Stats:110 ERA+, 4.19 FIP, 0.1 WAR
Free Agent: 2023
2020 Salary: $1.05 million
Grade: D
2020 Review:
Traded to the Mets at the 2020 trade deadline, Miguel Castro didn’t exactly impress over his nine innings of work.
Castro was acquired in a trade with the Orioles on Aug. 31 in exchange for minor leaguer Kevin Smith. So far in the already shortened season, Castro had put up sub-par numbers, slotting a 4.02 ERA over 15.2 IP. Still, the Mets took a chance on him, betting on the hard-throwing right-hander to help their struggling bullpen.
His first appearance on Sept. 2 was effective, as he pitched an inning of relief and gave up one hit against his former team, the Orioles. The next day, however, he was hammered in a one inning appearance against the cross-town Yankees, yielding two earned runs on two walks and two hits allowed.
On Sept. 5 and Sept. 7, the same pattern occurred; an effective outing followed by an appearance where he lost control of the baseball and pitched poorly.
Castro made five appearances between Sept. 12 and Sept. 23, allowing no runs across 4.2 innings of work. He also walked four batters during that span, further cementing the problem with his control.
On Sept. 26, Castro made his final appearance of the season versus the Washington Nationals, recording just one out, while giving up an earned run.
Castro’s 2020 season added on to a streak of three straight years where he posted an ERA of 3.95 or above. The best year of his career came in 2017, when he pitched to a 3.53 ERA over 66.1 IP for the Orioles.
There were some positive signs in Castro’s pitching, however. His K/9 rate was the highest of his career, sitting at 14.0 during his time with the Mets and 13.9 across the 2020 season, both of which are immensely higher than his previous season’s mark of 8.7. What’s concerning is that, while his K/9 went up, so did his BB/9. Castro walked an average of eight batters per nine innings during his short tenure with the Mets.
2021 Outlook:
Miguel Castro’s 2020 season was not anything noteworthy, and his purpose of helping out the bullpen was ultimately failed. However, that does not mean he cannot be an effective pitcher out of the bullpen in the coming seasons.
Castro has been in the major leagues for six years, yet he is still just 25 years old. He’s shown in the past that he is capable of being an effective reliever, and with the proper work over the offseason, that is something that he could accomplish again. He for sure has the time to do so.
Batters facing Castro hit .455 on balls put in play, further proving that Castro has a severe control issue. He walks a lot of batters, and when he doesn’t throw a ball, he misses his spot over the plate and gives up a lot of hits. Castro’s control will need to improve immensely this offseason, but I wouldn’t write him off as a dud yet, as he still has a lot of time to come into his prime. And for a guy who was paid just over a million dollars last year, who won’t hit free agency until 2023, he’s definitely worth keeping around.
