Mar 15, 2015; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; A young Atlanta Braves fan tries to get an autograph before a spring training baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
The Atlanta Braves got a big home run season from Carlos Castro in Rome this season. Can he build on it in 2017?
Who Is He?
The Atlanta Braves signed Carlos Castro out of the Dominican Republic in July of 2011. He made his professional debut at age 18 in the Dominican Summer League in 2012 as a catcher. He hit .254/.277/.356 with a 1/10 BB/K ratio and showed a strong arm behind the plate, but struggled blocking pitches.
The Braves moved him to first base in 2013 due to his struggles behind the plate, and he then struggled at the plate, hitting .221/.264/.326 with the Dominican Summer League, having repeated the level without much success. Castro did hit 3 home runs and had a 7/26 BB/K over 197 plate appearances.
As was one of the cases in the Frank Wren era, an odd decision was made to try Castro again behind the plate in 2014, and once again, he had the arm to gun down runners, but he’d added even more size to his frame in that time, so his movement behind the plate was not good. His bat, however, came alive. He hit .308/.378/.450 for 2 home runs with a 9/22 BB/K ratio over 188 plate appearances. He was moved back to first base toward the end of the season.
Castro was bumped all the way up to Danville in the Appy League in 2015, and his contact skills came with him, as he hit .319/.340/.412 over 215 plate appearances with an 8/42 BB/K ratio. While Castro had filled out, he wasn’t able to tap into what should be excellent power, and worked in the winter on adjusting his swing for just that.
In 2016, the Braves sent Castro to Rome in the South Atlantic League. From the moment he arrived, it was clear that his new swing was going to bring plenty of power. He found that his new swing left contact holes, however, and he continued to work on the swing. His final tally was .266/.301/.508 with 17 home runs, 4 triples, 5 stolen bases, and a 13/76 BB/K over 322 plate appearances.
#Braves prospect Carlos Castro has a pair of solo HRs for @TheRomeBraves. https://t.co/FrTMwUMQjb pic.twitter.com/CSbApL7kpr
— MiLB.com (@MiLB) June 18, 2016
Scouting Report
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Castro is listed at 6’1 and 195 pounds. He’s a right-handed hitter and thrower. I’d wager he’s a thicker guy than 195, but not in bad weight and he has surprising athleticism.
Hitting
Castro has a very similar swing and hitting approach to Jose Bautista. He went from a swing that was in the zone for a long time and more level in 2015 to a swing now that has a big finish over his left shoulder and a big load at the back end.
Castro begins his swing set up open in the box. His step toward the plate opens his hips, however, allowing him to access his big power in his lower body. Castro starts everything with a high leg kick. His swing is long in his new stance, but it is notable that he worked to change his approach as the season went on to cut down on his strikeouts and to make better contact in his at bats. I don’t foresee Castro ever being a .300 hitter, but it’s notable that he hit .323/.337/.505 in August as you really saw the results of that swing change.
Castro still has some major work to do in pitch recognition and has never been a guy who has walked much as he’s worked his way up the chain, so this may take some time to get ingrained.
Base Running/Fielding
Castro is a surprising athlete for a first baseman. He has 11 triples and 11 stolen bases in under 1,000 minor league plate appearances for a reason. His quick-twitch movements help him to get excellent first steps toward first-to-third movements and even stolen bases when he has a good read. I was very impressed with his top end speed as well once he got going.
Castro’s got some flexibility at first that comes with his athleticism, and he has a strong throwing arm that he once displayed at catcher. Of course, that arm doesn’t come into play often at first base, but he is a guy that can make a hard throw if need be. Between he and Juan Yepez, Rome was blessed with two first basemen who could make a strong throw when needed. His glove work on ground balls still could use some work, but he does well receiving from his infielders.
Video
Sep 4, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (10) doubles during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Future Outlook
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While Castro won’t have the Rogers Center to help him out to get the extra home run totals that Encarnacion has enjoyed in his career. However, with that similar swing, I do believe he could have a similar .260-.280 hitter with excellent power, and his solid contact skills keeping his strikeout rate low (Encarnacion had his worst strikeout rate as a Blue Jay this season, at 19.7%, and Castro’s averaged 17.8% in his minor league career thus far). I don’t assume Castro will have the same results as Encarnacion, but they have a lot of similarities that you could dream on Castro being a late bloomer in the same manner as Encarnacion was.
Technically, Castro is eligible for the Rule V draft this offseason, though it would be quite odd for any team to draft him in the major league or AAA portion, but it wouldn’t be surprising to hear that Castro is added to the AA roster to protect him in that round. That does not necessarily mean that Castro is going to play at AA next season. I’d wager he’s going to start at high-A, and he’ll have a good challenge for his new power-oriented swing in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League with the Braves’ new high-A affiliation.
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