Diego Castillo (born January 18, 1994) is a Dominican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He previously played in MLB for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

Career

Minor leagues

Castillo signed with the

as an international free agent in March 2014. He made his professional debut that season with the

Dominican Summer League Rays The Dominican Summer League Rays or DSL Rays are a Rookie League affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays based in the Dominican Republic. They play in the Dominican Summer League. As an independent affiliate, they have been in existence since 1997. Histo ...

and spent the whole season there, going 3–3 with a 3.96 ERA in 25 innings. In 2015, he played for both the

Hudson Valley Renegades Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson ...

and

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which open ...

, compiling a combined 1–2 record and 3.03 ERA in 18 relief appearances. In 2016, he pitched with both Bowling Green and the

Charlotte Stone Crabs The Charlotte Stone Crabs were a Minor League Baseball team located in Port Charlotte, Florida, from 2009 to 2020. They competed in the Florida State League (FSL) as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball (MLB) ...

, posting a combined 3–6 record and 2.98 ERA in 60.1 total innings pitched out of the bullpen. In 2017, Castillo played for the

Montgomery Biscuits The Montgomery Biscuits are a Minor League Baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League. The team was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1973 as the Orlando Twins ...

and

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in ...

. He was named the Rays' minor league reliever of the year after posting a 2.76

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) with 90

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

and 15 saves in 71.2 innings pitched. The Rays added him to their 40-man roster after the season. He began the 2018 season with the

Tampa Bay Rays

Castillo was promoted to the

and made his debut on June 6, 2018. For the season, he split time between the bullpen and being one of the Rays' "opening" starters. Castillo threw innings over 43 games, going 4–2 over 11 starts. He finished the year with a 3.18 ERA, 65

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and 18 walks. In 2019, Castillo was used as both a closer and

opener Opener, Open'er or Openers may refer to: * ''Opener'' (album), an album by 8mm * Opener (baseball), a baseball strategy to use a relief pitcher to start a game * Open'er Festival, a contemporary music festival held in Gdynia, Poland * Bottle opene ...

. On June 23, he was put on the 10-day injured list with shoulder inflation. He finished the season appearing in 65 games (6 starts). In innings, he recorded 81

s, 8 saves, and an ERA of 3.41. In the postseason, Castillo threw 2 shutout innings in the American League Wild Card victory the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. He threw innings over three games (one start) in the

American League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the American League Division Series (ALDS) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ea ...

, where the Rays lost to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

in five games. In 2020, Castillo was moved away from the opener role. On July 24, he went on paternity leave. Castillo collected 4 saves over 22 games, posting an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 1.66 with 23

s and 11 walks. In the postseason, he was used in late innings consistently when the Rays had the lead. He pitched the final two innings of Game 5 of the ALDS against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, picking up the win after Mike Brosseau's 8th inning

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. In the

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...

against the

Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division, having moved to the div ...

, Castillo appeared in 7 games, going 1–0 with 2 saves and 2 holds. The first run he allowed was in Game 6.

Seattle Mariners

On July 29, 2021, the Rays traded Castillo to the

for J. T. Chargois and Austin Shenton.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Diego 1994 births Living people Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball pitchers Tampa Bay Rays players Seattle Mariners players Dominican Summer League Rays players Hudson Valley Renegades players Bowling Green Hot Rods players Charlotte Stone Crabs players Peoria Javelinas players Montgomery Biscuits players Durham Bulls players Tigres del Licey players Arizona Complex League Mariners players Everett AquaSox players People from María Trinidad Sánchez Province