AAP: Simon Castro

[Balta1701]

Full name: Simon Alfonseca Castro

 

Born: April 9, 1988 in San José de los Llanos, San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic.

 

Right handed pitcher, also bats right.

 

5 years minor league service time as of me writing this post. Was added to the Padres 40 man roster following the 2010 season, should have 2 minor league options remaining. Castro was the #58 prospect in MLB according to the pre-2010 Baseball America rankings, and the #57 prospect in MLB in the 2011 BA rankings.

 

On December 31, 2011, Simon Castro was traded along with Pedro Hernandez to the White Sox for outfielder Carlos Quentin.

 

 

[Balta1701]

Video of Castro:

 

 

 

 

 

[Balta1701]

Seriously hard not to notice the Contreras look here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Balta1701]

And now some scouting reports. Castro was a very highly touted pitcher who had a rough 2011. He's a classic "Coop will fix him" character. Here's BA's Matt Eddy:

2 years ago Simon Castro was a top 100 prospect and the starter in the futures game, after the Quentin trade most scouts are saying the Padres didn’t give up much in the trade. What exactly happened to Castro to make him go from top prospect to maybe a #5 starter?

 

Matt Eddy: He struggled in the futures game, he barely escaped the first inning. I think that might have had a big effect on his confidence level. He always has had a long arm action which impacted the way he throws the ball. He has really struggled with his release point. He has been getting out of synch and recoiling his arm a bit. He’s just been terrible. He improved at the end of the year in San Antonio, but it still wasn’t consistent enough to make up for what he did the majority of the year. He still has a lot of upside because of his arm strength and has a really good slider. The White Sox think they can turn him around and get really good value. He is tall, physical, and throws hard it is a pretty good building block for becoming a solid MLB pitcher. The Padres were always high on him and praised him for working really hard. Hopefully the change of scenery can help. The White Sox have a history of rebuilding pitchers, look at Phil Humber.

[Balta1701]

Link

The price paid is nothing too significant for the Padres, who boast one of the overall best and deepest minor league systems in baseball.

 

The headliner in the deal is right-hander Simon Castro. He is a big kid, checking in at a robust 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds. He is physically mature though still gaining coordination with his long limbs. He has a long arm action and good arm speed that generates plus velocity in the 92-94 mph range with some regularity. His velocity fluctuated a lot in 2011 as he completely lost his mechanics at times and he would range from 88 to 95 mph during many of his starts.

 

His slider shows as a plus pitch at times and it will offer two-plane break when he has it going right. His change-up is below-average but he will show some feel for the pitch at times and just needs to throw it more to become comfortable with it in tight spots.

 

There was a time when scouts viewed Castro as a potential number two starter but most talent evaluators have backed off that view and now consider him more of a number four starter with bullpen possibilities if his command doesn’t take a big step forward.

[Balta1701]

Bleacher Report, ranking him as San Diego's #3 prospect in 2011:

Simon Castro established himself as one of the Texas League's top pitchers in 2010. He has largely struggled this season between San Antonio and Tucson, but the Padres believe it has been due to flawed mechanics and therefore, wavering confidence.

 

With that aside, Castro still possesses electric stuff, and when he's on his game, he's one of the top prospects in the entire Padres organization, and arguably one of the top pitching prospects in the league.

 

Castro has a potentially dominant fastball/slider combination with a useful change-up to boot, and is a true strikeout pitcher.

 

Despite his struggles in 2011, he has still managed to prove his worth striking out hitters. In Tucson he has been averaging 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings and averaged almost a strikeout per inning in San Antonio.

 

Castro is a very strong physical presence at 6'5, and his 3/4 arm angle means he will present hitters with a deceptive view of the ball as it comes out of his hand, which is a large reason why despite his struggles when hitters are making contact, he can still strike out an above average number of batters.

 

Don't expect Castro to break in with San Diego in the immediate future, but when he does, expect him to be ready and to make a big impact.

[Balta1701]

Scout.com summary of his first few years:

Biography:

2009

 

Castro threw a seven-inning no-hitter on August 18, 2009 versus Dayton – the first in Fort Wayne franchise history.

 

Simon Castro went 10-6 with a 3.33 ERA across 28 games, including 27 starts with the Fort Wayne TinCaps. In 140.1 innings, he allowed 118 hits, walked 37 and struck out 157. He held the opposition to a .228 average. The opposition stole 14 bases off him in 22 attempts. He allowed nine homers, hit 10 batters, tossed 15 wild pitches, and induced three double play grounders. The opposition hit .263 off him in 118 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Castro led the Midwest League in strikeouts and was fifth in ERA. Castro was 10th in the entire minor leagues in strikeouts and eighth in strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

 

2008

 

Castro went 2-3 with a 3.99 ERA across 15 starts with the Eugene Emeralds. In 65.1 innings he allowed 54 hits, 29 walks and struck out 64. He allowed three homers and induced four double play grounders while holding the opposition to a .223 average.

 

2007

 

Castro went 2-6 with a 6.22 ERA over 14 games, including 12 starts, for the AZL Padres. In 50.2 innings he allowed 61 hits, walked 30 and struck out 55. He tied for the league lead in losses.

 

2006

 

The right-hander went 1-3 with a 4.63 ERA for the Dominican Summer League (DSL) Padres. In 46.2 innings, he allowed 40 hits, walked 21 and struck out 58. Castro did uncork nine wild pitches and twice tossed two in any game last year. He had a 1.89 ERA in July last year and a 9.00 mark in April and 5.48 ERA in August. Righties hit .208 off him in 2006.

[Balta1701]

A look coming into his weak 2011 season, just after being put on the 40 man:

On the same day that 22 year old Mat Latos threw his first CG shutout, a fellow 22 year old top pitching prospect named Simon Castro led the San Antonio Missions to only their third win in May (3-9 this month). This win has led many to look at the young Dominican phenom and liken him to last year’s top pitching prospect Mat Latos. These optimistic fans have even gone as far as saying that Castro should be on the same path to the majors as Latos. Let me make this clear, baring catastrophic injuries, and a drastic fall from contention we will not see Simon Castro don a San Diego Padres uniform in the next 3.5 months. These are different players, with a different front office, different prospects ahead of him, and most importantly a different year.

 

Lets just get the similarities out of the way. Both are 22 (Latos is 4 months older). Both were the #1 pitching prospect in the organization at the time. Both players skipped Lake Elsinore after obliterating Fort Wayne. Both players led the Mission’s rotation despite being the youngest member. Finally both players have #1 potential.

 

The single biggest factors that surround a top prospects promotion are how well the team is doing, relative strength at the position, and of course money. Last year the Padres were out of contention by the all star break and had already used 10 starters. Of those 10 starters only Peavy (traded), and Stauffer (1 start prior to ASG), had an ERA below 4. In fact the next lowest was Correia at 4.50 and Gaudin (traded) at 5.03. Needless to say the Padres were in desperate need of a starter. In addition the Padres also had flexibility in the 40 man as players like Geer, Silva, Hill, Floyd, etc… could all be DFA or placed on the 60 day DL without much of a concern. They had given other pitchers like Leblanc Geer, and Banks a shot but none were remotely effective.

 

Enter Mat Latos who after 4 G in Fort Wayne (25.1 IP, 10 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 27 K) was promoted to AA where he was equally as impressive (5-1, 1.91 ERA, 47 IP, 32 H, 9 BB, 46 K). So we have a team out of contention, with a desperate need for starters, other pitching prospects flailing, room on the 40 man, and Latos tearing up AA. Why not promote Latos at that time, especially since it was late enough into the season to not have to worry about Super 2 status.

 

This year is a different story. The team is currently in first place with the best record in the NL. In addition they are first in the NL in ERA (2.61), 2nd in BAA (.220), 2nd in OPS (.627), 1st in WHIP (1.16), and 5th in QS (17). Every starter has an ERA below 4! Castro is the #1 Padre pitching prospect (#2 overall), and was voted by scout.com as the #12 pitching prospect in all of baseball, and is currently leading the Missions and if he continues on his pace will probably be deserving of a promotion come the all star break. However, while his stats might be deserving the Padres are in contention, have crazy rotation depth (provided Stauffer recovers from his appendicitis and Correia comes back as the same pitcher after the untimely death of his brother), and do not have the flexibility on the 40 man that they did last year. Even if the Padres do begin to falter the current Padre rotation of Garland (30), Coreia (29), Richard (27), LeBlanc (25), and Latos (22) is still extremely young. Also I would have to think that if Garland is traded or someone goes on the DL there is still CY (if he is ever healthy), Stauffer (extremely deserving), Ramos, and Liz who are all on the 40 man roster and will probably have a shot before Castro.

 

Finally some people have mentioned that if Castro did not follow in the footsteps of Latos, than maybe his path would look more like David Price who was a September call up and helped the Rays into the playoffs and eventually WS. While this scenario is more likely, meaning Castro getting a September call up, the Padres have even better bullpen depth. Russell faced 14 hitters during his last call up with the Padres and retired 13 of them (1 walk), and yet because of depth was sent back down to the minors. The Padres have shown that the big 3 (Bell, Adams, and Gregerson) are nearly unhitable, Stauffer and his 0.49 ERA as a reliever, throw in Russell, Webb, Thatcher, Mujica, and even Ramos and Gallagher and this is one of the best pens in baseball. This isnt even considering the Padres have both the closers at AA (Italiano) and AAA (Frieri) on the 40 man and both are doing extremely well in their perspective leagues. So making the big assumption that every thing stays the way it is come September, tell me what is the point of calling up Castro if there is no place to play him? The Padres wouldnt call him up just to cross their fingers that we play another 22 inning game against the Rockies…

 

Despite Castro not being Latos or even David Price (talk about setting the bar low), Castro will be in San Diego soon enough. While it would have probably happened anyway, Castro will with 100% certainty be placed on the 40 man roster by November as he would be Rule V eligible. Now whether he starts 2011 in the Padres rotation remains to be seen. No matter the outcome the future looks extremely bright for this potential number starter, and while the temptation might be there, there is no need to rush.

[Balta1701]

March: 2011 comparison with prospect Casey Kelly.

[Balta1701]

Some detailed reviews on his stuff, worth following the link for more.:

The Stuff

 

Four-Seam Fastball – Castro fires a low-to-mid-90s four-seamer from a low 3/4 arm slot. The offering features good movement away from left-handed hitters and is a plus pitch.

 

Slider – The slider is above average at times with sharp late downward movement. Castro lives on the heater/slider combo.

 

Change-up – The change needs work and, according to reports, needs refining due to a hesitation in his delivery that may tip-off more advanced hitting.

 

Two-Seam Fastball – Scouts report that this pitch has some movement too but not as much as the four-seamer and with less downward movement. Tops out in the low-90s.

 

The Mechanics

 

As stated before, Castro brings it with a low 3/4 arm slot. So he doesn’t use his height to produce a downward plane, but his loose and long arm action produces enough natural downward bite on his pitches to move the hitter’s eye level to a different plane in the strike zone, when he is right. The big right-hander will be at his best when he doesn’t get too much plate. With that motion, he inevitably throws across his body and falls toward first base after releasing the ball, which adds to the deception and helps him get the excellent movement on his pitches. That, combined with the nice velocity on his fastball, makes it difficult for hitters to square him up. That said, maintaining his arm slot is key.

 

Our Instinct

 

Pitching coach Don Cooper has straightened out pitchers before. Most notably Jose Contreras, during his stint with the Sox. If the command issues straighten out, Castro could be ready by mid-season for a rotation spot in the event of an injury in Chi-town. Otherwise, Castro can make his living setting up for Addison Reed in the late innings of games. Castro will, first, need to be successful in Triple A as he hasn’t pitched much above Double-A yet at all. With the natural movement the gets on his pitches, the lack of development of the change-up shouldn’t hinder him that much. He’ll need to show a change-of-pace pitch from time to time, but the plus fastball/slider combo thrown for strikes can confound hitters alone. Obviously, from the bullpen, the lack of change won’t be a problem.

[Balta1701]

Here's a great page from project prospect.com with a bunch of slowed-down-gifs of his pitching motion that I'm not going to steal, but I highly recommend.

Castro has room to improve his command, but I saw him show a feel for three pitches that could be average or better in the bigs. The big righty pitched with a purpose. He wasn't just throwing the heck out of the ball every time, instead opting to aim for corners and keeping hitters off-balance with thought-out pitch sequences and locations.

 

I saw Castro follow up one outside slider that eluded the catcher's glove with another slider that painted the black and put him back ahead in the count. Still, pitches got away from him every once and a while.

 

Though he did only have two wild pitches and six hit batters in 2010, he is going to need to command each of his offerings better to reach his ceiling as a No. 1 starter. Castro's fastball is good enough to get outs even when he leaves it over the plate. It's promising that he's not afraid to challenge hitters with it, but I wonder if sometimes he's a bit too casual with locating it in the zone. If he learns to bury each of his offerings down in the zone with more regularity, I think he could be a guy who strikes out 175+ batters annually.

 

Even if Castro only had his fastball, he'd be an outstanding prospect. Throw in a secondary with a swing-through slider and a decent changeup and you have a guy who probably won't spend much more time in the minors. Castro's low walk rates over the last two seasons are evidence of his ability to control each of his offerings. He'll need pin-point command to maintain or improve his strikeout rate once he's faces big-league hitters. I wouldn't put it past him to take another step forward with his command.

 

Castro's perfect-world upside is a true ace who gets a lot of ground balls and misses a lot of bats. He could be a No. 3 starter if he only makes moderate progress from when I saw him. He's in my mix for a nod as one of the top five pitching prospects in baseball entering 2011.

[Balta1701]

ESPN.com's Jason Grey:

Watching San Diego Padres starting pitching prospect Simon Castro pitch for the (Triple-A) Tucson Padres on Wednesday, I saw the same potential from him that I have in the past, but also the same inconsistencies.

 

The 6-foot-5 right-hander, who turned 23 a couple of weeks ago, has drawn comparisons to both Orlando Hernandez and Jose Contreras because of his delivery, but both of those players were/are really in tune with their deliveries and had/have it down to a science. Castro isn't quite there yet; he has problems repeating it, which leads to those inconsistencies.

 

Castro's fastball sat mostly in the 91-92 mph range with sink, touching 94 when he was throwing it up in the zone. His slider ranged from 82-85 mph, and though it had some late three-quarters tilt that can miss bats, he had problems commanding it. One positive I took from the outing was that his changeup had improved since the last time I saw him; it sat in the 84 mph range and had some sink and fade. He seemed to have more confidence in it, too, going to the pitch early in the game against left-handed hitters.

 

The arsenal is there to have success as a starter in the big leagues, especially given the strides he has made with his changeup, but he still struggles to locate his fastball. He has to back off a bit to do so, and at times he seems as if he's fighting his mechanics, trying to aim the ball instead of letting it go. Again, the buzzword is consistency. He's finding out that not as many upper-level hitters get thrown off by his delivery, and that he must be more precise in spotting his fastball.

 

Castro still has some work to do before we see him in the big leagues. Still, when he does get promoted, Castro will have a good park and a good defense behind him, which can cover up some of his mistakes and inconsistencies. That makes him a player to monitor if you're scrambling for starting pitching depth in an NL-only league.

[Balta1701]

Right hander Simon Castro was signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic back in 2006. He was quite raw, obviously, and didn’t really burst onto the big time prospect scene until after his 2009 campaign at Single-A Fort Wayne.

 

Castro pitched 140 and a third innings that year, posting a 3.33 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, and .6 HR/9. Those are some pretty solid numbers, especially for a 21-year-old who had yet to really put it all together previously. After the impressive season, Castro ranked as the 57th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America, the #2 Padres prospect by Kevin Goldstein, and the #2 Padres prospect by John Sickels.

 

Sickels called Castro an “excellent arm with improving command” and Goldstein said that “he will be an above-average major-league starter, with some scouts projecting him as high as a No. 2.”

 

in 2010, Castro jumped up to Double-A San Antonio and continued to perform. He again pitched 140 innings (10 and a third in Triple-A Portland), with a 3.28 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, and .6 HR/9. The drop in strikeouts was a bit alarming, but overall the 6-5 right hander had a more-than-respectable year in his first taste of Double-A.

 

The prospectors didn’t waver. Baseball America rated him as the 58th best MLB prospect while Kevin Goldstein and John Sickels both kept him at #2 overall in the Padres system.

 

Last season Castro started out in Triple-A Tucson and lasted only six starts, posting an ERA over 10 and ugly peripherals. He was sent back down to Double-A San Antonio where he would regain some of his form. His ERA was 4.33, but as we mentioned in the Quentin trade analysis, his peripherals looked largely the same:

Year Inn K/PA BB/PA BABiP FIP

2010 129.7 20.2% 6.8% .271 3.34

2011 89.3 19.5% 4.3% .321 3.80

 

One could argue pretty easily that he was actually a little better the second time around in Double-A, as his strikeout rate stayed virtually the same and his walk rate dropped quite a bit. His strikeout-to-walk ratio jumped from 2.97 in 2010 to 4.56 in 2011.

 

Of course, there are some legitimate reasons to be concerned with Castro’s 2011 year. For one, he struggled mightily again in Triple-A, giving him a 9.50 ERA, 1.5 HR/9, and nearly one walk for every strikeout in 36 career innings. It’s a small sample, sure, but it is ugly performance. Further, he repeated Double-A and while his peripherals were a little better, it’s not as if he dominated.

 

After 2011, though, would you expect him to completely drop off the prospect radar? That’s kind of what happened. Baseball America didn’t list Castro in its Padres top 10, Kevin Goldstein rated him #20 in the system, and John Sickels didn’t even rank him in his top 27.

 

Now, prospect lists are certainly fluid, and Castro didn’t do much to build on his 2010 campaign. Further, the Padres continued to add minor league talent from the draft and trades, helping push Castro’s freefall – not to mention, other guys establishing themselves.

 

Still, if you’re trying to look at the whole picture, it’s hard to believe that Castro should have fallen this far based on his ‘11 performance. If he was a top three prospect prior to 2011, there’s no way he’s a top 20-30 prospect after. That’s only my opinion, of course, and the prospect experts certainly study these guys closer than I do and have a lot of scout/front office contacts.

Friarforecast.com

[Bubba Philips]

Friarforecast.com

Does he get a look as a NRI this season?

[southsider2k5]

Does he get a look as a NRI this season?

 

He is on the 40 man roster. He will be in camp.

[Balta1701]

The Sox started Castro off conservatively this year, dropping him back to AA ball into the Birmingham rotation. So far, he's given up a ton of runs, but the peripherals actually look a lot better than his overall performance.

 

ERA: 4.65, 1-1 record, 35 hits in 31 innings, 21 runs (16 earned), 3 HR, 7 BB, 26 K's. Lots of strikeouts, good K/BB ratio, hasn't given up a ton of hits (opponents hitting .282 against him), 1.00 GO/AO ratio.

 

Everything seems good in the peripherals but the performance isn't there. Makes one wonder if that couldn't be more of an issue with the defense letting him down in a few games, especially with 5 unearned runs in 5 starts.

 

Some local writeup:

Simon Castro -- The 6-foot-5 right-hander was acquired in January as the cornerstone to the Carlos Quentin trade with San Diego.

 

Castro has been ranked one of the top 60 prospects in the minors two years running and started for the World team on the mound in the 2010 Futures Game.

 

He was poised for a breakout season in 2011, but his season in Triple-A Tucson unraveled early with an injury that some scouts attributed to his mechanics.Barons pitching coach Bobby Thigpen is trying to iron out his mechanics while in Double-A. If Thigpen is successful, Castro can be dominant and stay healthy, scouts said.

 

As a Baron, he has gone at least seven innings in three consecutive starts, including a rocky appearance Saturday at Montgomery.

 

Castro signed as a 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic, so he is a grizzled pro now. He is also a better athlete than advertised. He didn't hit in his first four seasons in the minors. But as a Padres farmhand, he went a respectable 3-for-13 at the plate bouncing between Double-A and Triple-A last summer.

[southsider2k5]

I'd be really curious to hear someone from the organization break down what went wrong for him in '11, and what they specifically saw that they thought they could fix.

[Balta1701]

Here's Castro pitching today.

 

 

[Jake]

Motion looks a hair toned down from what I remember.

[Balta1701]

Ton of Castro photos. Here he is dancing with the Jerry Lewis type guy:

 

 

 

 

 

[Balta1701]

Here he is on the mound:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Balta1701]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jake]

Bronze Titan anyone?

 

Balta, see anything qualitatively good/bad in his outing? I'm interested in him, surprising lack of buzz for a former top prospect putting up decent numbers in AA (I know it's a repeat) and he has seemingly corrected that control problem from last season.

[Balta1701]

I'm working on writing up my impressions. Saw lots of guys, can only type so fast

 

Simon looked really, really solid for a guy in AA. He gave up a couple runs but those runs weren't on things that were hit hard. One run, for example, scored on a swinging bunt that Simon tried to barehand but couldn't field cleanly. Another run was set up when he threw the ball past 1b on an attempted pickoff play. Another hit happened to go perfectly between SS and 3b, not hit hard. Put a major league defense behind him and give him a year of PFP along with a big league staff and this could have been a shutout. When guys like the Hawk say things like "it'll look like a line drive in the box score", this game was what he was talking about. Simon could easily have given up 0 or 1 run.

 

Simon had the best fastball I saw in 2 days at Smokies park. He was regularly 90-92, and when he got in trouble in the 2nd inning he popped one at 93. To go with that, he was putting a solid breaking ball up there. Couldn't tell you exactly what every pitch was, but he was able to get more than a few swings and misses with guys out ahead of breaking stuff that came in between 77-85 (I'd assume there was both a change and a curve/slider in there, but you can't recognize pitches from the side).

 

Most importantly, the guy was ahead of everyone it seemed. Every count was 1-2 or 0-1 or 1-1 at the worst. Kid threw strikes. Looked good. Pitched 6 innings, velocity stayed consistent the whole game, didn't seem like he tired out, could probably have gone farther. Reasonable candidate for Charlotte at some point this year.

[NorthSideSox72]

Promoted to AAA Charlotte.