Draft slight no longer issue for ex-Hurricanes standout turned major-leaguer Del Castillo

Adrian Del Castillo was devastated.

It was late into the 2021 Miami Hurricanes baseball season, and Del Castillo – a catcher with a sweet lefty stroke – walked into the office of Norberto Lopez, his position coach.

“He was slumping,” said Lopez, who is now on staff at UCF. “He does not come from a wealthy family. He wanted to provide for them, and ‘Del’ felt he was letting them down.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Del Castillo made his MLB debut on August 7, slugging an RBI double in his first plate appearance as his Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Cleveland Guardians, 7-3.

“Honestly, I blacked out when I got to second base,” Del Castillo told the Associated Press when asked about his double. “It was everything I’ve dreamed of.”

Arizona won its first six games with Del Castillo, who got off to a 7-for-12 start that included two doubles, one homer and five RBIs.

On Monday night, Del Castillo had his biggest game yet, going 2-for-4 with a grand slam, six RBIs, a walk and his first career steal to lead Arizona past the Marlins 9-6.

Not bad for his first pro game in Miami, a performance that also included Del Castillo throwing a runner out at second base.

“He’s got a lot more exciting times ahead of him,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of Monday. “He’s been learning and growing rapidly inside our system.

“Normally, when a young guy gets called up, he’s a backup player. But (Del Castillo) has been inserted into a playoff run, and he’s getting a lot of reps.”

Indeed, Del Castillo has replaced injured catcher Gabriel Moreno and is now starting for the reigning National League champions who are currently in wild-card playoff position.

Prior to Monday, his biggest game so far was his second start as he led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk-off homer in a 3-2 win over Philadelphia. Del Castillo became the first player in Diamondbacks history to make his first career homer a walk-off winner, and his teammates socked him with a celebratory bucket of ice before he even crossed home plate.

“Straight-up goosebumps,” Del Castillo told the media after pulling that 416-foot homer off a 97-mph fastball by Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman. “I don’t even know how to describe it, but it was sick.”

Lovullo said watching Del Castillo’s homer gave him such a thrill that he felt like he was 18 years old again for a few moments.

Ex-Canes coach Gino DiMare, who directed Del Castillo at Miami, can relate. DiMare had a lot of good moments watching Del Castillo rake.

“I remember Adrian coming to our camp early in his high school career, and he was already a hitting machine,” DiMare said. “He was way ahead of everybody else. He hit the ball like a professional -- all over the field.”

Javy Rodriguez, a former Hurricanes player, coached Del Castillo briefly at Gulliver Prep. This was in the fall of Del Castillo’s sophomore season, and Rodriguez was so impressed that he immediately called DiMare.

“Del had a fluid no-fault swing,” Rodriguez said. “No matter where it was in the strike zone, Del would get his barrel on it.

“Even when he was just a sophomore in high school, I told Gino: ‘Del could hit in college right now.’

“I knew he would hit in the big leagues one day.”

Del Castillo’s college career got off to a great start in 2019 as he hit .331 with 22 doubles, 12 homers and 72 RBIs in 61 games. He also posted a .974 OPS.

In 2020, Del Castillo was hitting .358 in 16 games before the season was cancelled due to COVID.

Then came Del Castillo’s 2021 slump. He hit .275 with 13 doubles, three homers, 37 RBIs and a .775 OPS in 54 games.

Those numbers caused concern among scouts, and Del Castillo slipped all the way down to pick No. 67 (second round) to Arizona.

He was the fifth catcher selected, picked behind Henry Davis, Harry Ford, Joe Mack – who was drafted by the Marlins – and Mat Nelson.

Of those four catchers, only Davis has made the majors.

Del Castillo got a $1 million bonus in 2021, which is great money but way below the payments received by Davis ($6.5 million), Ford ($4.4 million) and Mack ($2.5 million).

Despite all of that, Del Castillo put his head down and worked, rising up through Arizona’s minor-league system.

In fact, in 100 games at Triple-A Reno this year, he hit .319 with 36 doubles; three triples; 24 homers; 70 RBIs; 86 runs; 52 walks; a .403 on-base percentage and a 1.010 OPS.

So far in the majors, he is hitting .310 with a .961 OPS, two doubles, two homers and eight RBIs in eight games. His second homer came on Sunday – a three-run blast in the ninth inning that tied the Rays, 6-6. Arizona ultimately lost that game 8-7 in 12 innings.

Defense has always been where Del Castillo has been doubted the most. But, by many accounts, he is much improved in terms of framing pitches, for example.

Lopez, who put in a lot of work to help improve Del Castillo’s catching skills, had a different strategy when it came to his star player’s offense.

“I just tried to stay out of his way,” Lopez said of Del Castillo, who turns 25 on Sept. 27.

“He has a natural swing. God made that swing.”

This story was originally published August 19, 2024 at 9:36 AM.