https://triblive.com/sports/diego-castillo-makes-opening-day-roster-then-hits-6th-homer-as-pirates-top-orioles/
Diego Castillo makes Opening Day roster, then hits 6th homer as Pirates top Orioles
Diego Castillo attended his first MLB game at PNC Park last summer after he was acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates and assigned to the Double-A Altoona Curve.
His next will be on Opening Day.
The sensation of spring training, Castillo earned a spot on the Pirates roster for Thursday’s season opener at St. Louis.
“When they told me,” Castillo told reporters in Florida, “it was the best news of my life.”
Diego Castillo has only been to one MLB game in his life.His second game will be Opening Day in St. Louis as a Pittsburgh Pirate! pic.twitter.com/CfNppuMaSK
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 4, 2022
Then the 24-year-old super utility player went out and showed why the move was such a no-brainer, going 4 for 4 with a home run and two runs scored as the Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-3, in a Grapefruit League game Monday afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla.
Castillo came to the Pirates, along with Hoy Park, from the New York Yankees last July in exchange for reliever Clay Holmes. Castillo hit 19 homers and had 55 RBIs across Double-A Somerset and Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis, where he played only 18 games. The Pirates added him to their 40-man roster last November.
It was the first four-hit game this spring by a Pirates player. Castillo is slashing .406/.429/.969, leads the Pirates with six home runs and is tied with Minnesota’s Byron Buxton and Boston’s Rafaeal Devers for the Grapefruit League lead with 12 RBIs.
Castillo’s six homers in 13 games this spring is the most by a Pirates player since Jung Ho Kang hit seven in 16 games in 2019. The Pirates lead the majors with 37 home runs, two more than the New York Yankees.
They also got bombs by Bryan Reynolds and Hunter Owen. Reynolds is 6 for 15 with two doubles, two homers and five RBIs in his last five games and has seven extra-base hits and nine RBIs this spring.
Bryse Wilson started and allowed two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven in 3 2/3 innings, the longest outing by a Pirates pitcher this spring. Wil Crowe threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings, and reliever Heath Hembree tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning to stretch his scoreless streak to four innings.
Zach Thompson is scheduled to start the spring finale against Zach Elfin when the Pirates play the Philadelphia Phillies at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday at in BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater.
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