Twins Sign Veteran Relief Arm Diego Castillo To Minor-League Deal

After a slew of injuries to their relief corps, the Twins have brought in Diego Castillo on a minor-league deal. He will begin the year with the Triple-A Saint Paul Saints. The former Tampa Bay Ray and Seattle Mariner had inked a minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers in the offseason, but he was granted his release on March 27th. 

The veteran right-hander is coming off of a challenging 2023 campaign, where he struggled to the tune of an unsightly 6.23 ERA across 8 ⅔ innings with the Seattle Mariners before being sent down in late-April. 

From there, Castillo didn’t find much success with Triple-A Tacoma, either. The 30-year-old had a 5.13 ERA in 47 ⅓ innings pitched, with a sky-high 15.5% walk rate and a career-low 22.1% strikeout rate. 

Last year’s production was a far cry from what was expected of the righty, and the Twins are banking on it being an outlier to an otherwise very impressive career. From his debut in 2018 through the 2022 season, Castillo was one of the most-stable setup relievers in the American League, saving 35 games on top of 52 holds. In those five seasons, he had a 3.12 ERA with a rock-solid 28.1% strikeout rate thanks to a standout slider and a pair of fastballs that averaged between 95-97 MPH. His velocity did take a notable dip last season, as both his four-seam fastball and sinker averaged just 93 MPH. 

The Twins are hoping Castillo can get back on track with the Saints, and to be in the mix as an early-season call-up to the major league bullpen in lieu of the injuries to Jhoan Duran, Caleb Thielbar, Justin Topa and Josh Staumont. If he can regain his form, and velocity, from his first five seasons, he could find himself climbing the Twins’ bullpen ladder into higher-leverage opportunities. 
 

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