Diego A. Castillo

Signed by Yankees as a non-drafted free agent (July 2, 2014) \[signed by: Donnie Rowland\]...Is passionate about horses and enjoys riding and the process of raising them…his family owned two horses in Venezuela when he was a teen and named the pair "Campocorto" (Shortstop in Spanish) and "La Nube Gris" (The Grey Cloud)...Grew up admiring shortstops Derek Jeter and Omar Vizquel as a young infielder…admired his countryman Vizquel because of his glove abilities and his style of play, and admired Jeter because he considers him "just the best...Hails from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, the same city as fellow D-back Gabriel Moreno and Guardians' 2022 All-Star and Gold Glove second baseman, Andrés Giménez, who are both good friends of his....Father, Juan, and grandfather, Esteban, were in attendance when he collected his first Major League hit on April 9, 2022 in St. Louis (PH 2B off T. McFarland)...Juan traveled 17 hours from Venezuela to make it in time for the series… his mother, Maria, was unable to travel, but with the help of Pirates' staff, he was able to record a short thank you video from the stadium and upload it for his entire family to see…eventually gave the game ball to his mom, saying, "no one deserves it more than her."

2023

Spent a majority of the season with Triple-A Reno; optioned to the Aces during Spring Training on 3/19 and was recalled by Arizona for one day on 7/31 before being optioned back on 8/1...Went 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter on 7/31 at SF in his only big league appearance of the year...Slashed .313/.431/.410 (142-for-454) with 33 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 94 runs scored, 72 RBI, 97 walks and 13 stolen bases in 124 games with Reno...Named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star...Led the Pacific Coast League in walks and ranked among the league leaders in doubles (T-2nd), batting average (4th), on-base percentage (4th), and hits (5th)...Set a professional career high with five hits on Opening Day 3/31 vs. Las Vegas (5-for-5, 2B, 3 R, RBI)...Hit safely in his first 15 games of the year through 4/22; also recorded a hit in 12 straight games from 6/4-21...Scored a run in a career-high 13 straight games from 6/17 to 7/5...Collected his first professional multi-homer game on 7/7 vs. Tacoma...Designated for assignment on 12/22.

2022

In his first stint in the Majors, appeared in 96 games with the Pirates and batted .206 (54-for-262) with 13 doubles, 11 home runs and 29 RBI...Made his first Opening Day roster and debuted on April 7 @ Cardinals....His 11 homers ranked tied for ninth among NL rookies...Made 30 starts at shortstop, 18 at second base, 18 in right field, three at first, one at third and one at DH....Notched a pair of five-game hitting streaks from April 9-16 and May 21-28...Pitched in relief on April 23 @ Cubs and June 22 vs. Cubs....Hit .246 (33-for-134) with six doubles, three home runs, 12 RBI and 14 walks in 35 games with Triple-A Indianapolis....Entered season ranked as the Pirates' No. 16 prospect by Baseball America. ...Designated for assignment by the Pirates on Dec. 20.

2021

Combined to hit .278 (108-for-388) with 24 doubles, 19 home runs, 55 RBI and 73 runs scored in 104 minor league games with three teams...Set career-highs in doubles, homers and RBI...Began season with Somerset(Yankees’ AA)...Made first career appearance at third base in his second game of the season on 5/5 vs. Harrisburg...Hit .378 (37-for-98) with eight home runs, 19 RBI and a1.144 OPS in 24 games during the month of June; his 37 hits were tied for the most among all Double-A players and his average ranked second...Also led all Double-A players with 18 extra-base hits and 71 total bases in June...Had four hits on 6/6 and three consecutive three-hit games from 6/15-17...Made 23 starts at second base and 14 each at third base and shortstop while playing with Somerset...Was acquired by Pittsburgh on 7/26 and assigned to Double-A Altoona, where he reached base safely in each of his first 13 games thru 8/10...Was promoted to Indianapolis and went 4-for-4 in his second Triple-A game on 9/2 vs. Iowa...Made nine starts at shortstop, five at second base and one at third base while playing with Indy.

2019

Spent his second full season with High-A Tampa, batting .248 (103-for-416) with 18 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 33 RBI in 114 games....Rated Best Defensive Infi elder in the Yankees' system in 2019 by Baseball America.