The New York Mets traded infielder Diego Castillo to the Kansas City Royals, according to their official transactions log.
Castillo signed a minor league contract with the Mets on March 13. In 13 games with Triple-A Syracuse, he hit .17 (11 for 42) with one double, one home run, five RBIs, three walks and 10 strikeouts.
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Castillo, 27, had a .188 batting average in balls in play with Syracuse, suggesting his luck would turn around with a longer runway to playing time.
He’ll ostensibly get that with the Royals organization. Kansas City assigned Castillo to its Triple-A Omaha affiliate and he is starting at shortstop for the Storm Chasers on Friday in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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The Mets appear loaded in the infield. Jeff McNeil began the season on the injured list and has played 21 games since returning, seeing most of his action at second base. Brett Baty has had a quietly solid season at the plate and in the field, splitting time between second base and third base.
Luisangel Acuña and Ronny Mauricio, who’s playing minor league games after missing 2024 due to a torn ACL, also figured to be ahead of Castillo on the Mets’ infield depth chart.
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Castillo is a career .208/.257/.383 hitter in parts of three seasons (2022-24) with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins. He got the bulk of his playing time as a rookie with Pittsburgh in 2022, when he hit .206 with 11 home runs in 96 games, and saw action at five different positions in the field (not including two mop-up pitching appearances in which he allowed eight runs).
Castillo has gotten the bulk of his playing experience in the minors. Since 2021, he has collected 1,663 plate appearances and a .278/.377/.418 slash line in the minors. Castillo also has an encouraging 13.3 percent walk rate, and 14.9 percent strikeout rate in the minors, which dovetails with the Royals’ contact-oriented philosophy.
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The Royals have been burning up the transactions wire Friday. Earlier in the day, they recalled Nick Loftin as the corresponding move for outfielder Hunter Renfroe being designated for assignment.
The Storm Chasers didn’t waste much time finding a replacement for Loftin on the infield. Kansas City, meanwhile, is 28-23 and in good position to replicate its surprising AL Wild Card berth from a year ago.
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