Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Taking seat Sunday
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Del Castillo is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners.
The Diamondbacks are giving Ketel Marte a day off from playing second base but keeping his bat in the lineup at designated hitter, so Del Castillo will be the odd man out of the starting nine as a result. Del Castillo had served as Arizona's designated hitter for the past five games, going 4-for-14 with a home run, two walks, three RBI and an additional run during that stretch. The 26-year-old could soon be at risk of losing hold of his strong-side platoon role, however; Pavin Smith (elbow) is in the midst of a rehab assignment and could take over as the Diamondbacks' primary DH if he's activated from the 60-day injured list during the upcoming week.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Knocks homer in win
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Del Castillo went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 7-5 win over the Giants.
Del Castillo hadn't gone yard since May 3 versus the Cubs. He hit a meager .136 over 16 games during the power drought, adding just six RBI and a 6:16 BB:K before his long ball Tuesday. For the season, the 26-year-old is hitting .191 with a .586 OPS, four homers, 19 RBI, eight runs scored and four doubles across 120 plate appearances. Del Castillo continues to play regularly versus right-handed pitchers, splitting his time between designated hitter and catcher, though he's done nothing to challenge for a spot higher in the order.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Getting rest Saturday
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Del Castillo isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Colorado.
Del Castillo will get a chance to regroup while he sits down Saturday following an 0-for-9 stretch at the plate across his last three games. Jose Fernandez will fill in as Arizona's designated hitter and bat seventh.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Hits second homer
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Del Castillo went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the Brewers.
Del Castillo's blast got the Diamondbacks on the board in the fourth inning. The catcher had gone 0-for-7 with two walks and three strikeouts over his last three games. Overall, he's batting just .222 with a .652 OPS, two homers, 11 RBI, six runs scored, three doubles and no stolen bases over 57 plate appearances. He's shared the catching duties with James McCann lately, but Del Castillo is likely to see a drop in playing time once Gabriel Moreno (oblique) returns, which is expected to happen during Arizona's series versus the Cubs this weekend.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Returns to action
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Del Castillo started at designated hitter and went 0-for-2 with two walks and a run scored in Tuesday's 11-2 loss to the Brewers.
Del Castillo, who was removed from the team's previous game Sunday due to a finger injury, only needed Monday's off day to get back in the lineup. He's hit a recent dry spell, going 1-for-16 over the last five contests, which dropped his average to .224 through 14 games.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Resting with lefty on mound
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Del Castillo is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the White Sox.
Del Castillo picked up two starts at catcher and one at designated hitter over the past three games, but he'll hit the bench Wednesday while the White Sox send lefty Anthony Kay to the hill. With Del Castillo sitting, Jose Fernandez will serve as Arizona's DH and James McCann will get the nod behind the dish.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Scoring change removes two RBI
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Del Castillo lost a triple and two RBI as the result of a scoring change, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.
Del Castillo logged his first career triple to drive in two runs in a win over Baltimore on April 15, but MLB changed the scoring on the play to an error. Thus, a five-RBI day was lowered to three, and the catcher still seeks a triple. Del Castillo is slashing .263/.282/.395 with one home run and nine RBI over 10 games played.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Continues to hit
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Del Castillo served as the designated hitter and went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, an RBI and a run scored in Sunday's 10-4 loss to the Blue Jays.
One of the few positives to take away from the blowout loss was Del Castillo's continued production. He's slashing .333/.353/.545 with 11 RBI over nine games since coming off the injured list. With a third catcher having been called up to help fill-in for the injured Gabriel Moreno (oblique), manager Torey Lovullo can deploy Del Castillo and his bat at DH when James McCann is behind the plate.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: First start at catcher
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Del Castillo went 3-for-4 with an RBI in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Phillies.
Del Castillo, who was making his first start of the season behind the plate, had a run-scoring single in the first inning, giving him hits in three straight contests. He's in line for more catching work after the Diamondbacks announced that Gabriel Moreno (back) was headed for the injured list. Del Castillo's bat is ahead of his defensive skills, so it's unclear if the plan is to use him as the primary backup to James McCann or reach down to Triple-A Reno for a third catcher. Not calling up another backstop might make it too risky to use Del Castillo as a designated hitter, which is where he made his first three starts before Saturday.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Back from IL
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Del Castillo (calf) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Friday.
The 26-year-old opened the season on the injured list due to a calf strain, but he's good to go after a two-game rehab assignment with Triple-A Reno. Del Castillo seemed to have a decent path to playing time when Pavin Smith (elbow) landed on the IL, but Jose Fernandez made a huge impact in his MLB debut this week and is likely to get his fair amount of chances in the short term.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Moves to IL
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The Diamondbacks placed Del Castillo on the 10-day injured list Wednesday due to a left calf strain.
Del Castillo was unable to make any Cactus League appearances after straining his left calf shortly before the start of camp, but he made enough progress in his recovery for Arizona to clear him to serve as a designated hitter in a minor-league spring training game earlier this week, per MLB.com. Arizona will likely want Del Castillo to be available to play catcher prior to activating him from the IL, and it's unclear how close the 26-year-old might be to taking part in defensive drills.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Begins running
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Del Castillo (calf) is continuing to rehab and has begun running, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.
Del Castillo will operate as a designated hitter in minor-league games before the organization makes its next move. It's unclear what the Diamondbacks have in mind once Del Castillo is ready to play. He could serve as a third catcher and part-time DH in the majors or head back to the minors where he can continue to develop defensively.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Begins baseball activties
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Del Castillo (calf) has begun hitting in cages and catching bullpen sessions, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.
Del Castillo has been sidelined since mid-February, at which point his recovery time was estimated to be about a month. He's not running yet, but the resumption of baseball activities indicates Del Castillo could be available for Opening Day.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Status in doubt for Opening Day
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Del Castillo said Monday that he expects to be sidelined for around one month due to his left calf injury, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.
While Del Castillo is hopeful that he'll be able to play in at least one Cactus League game or exhibition before the beginning of the regular season, the extended time he'll miss this spring could end up costing him a spot on the Opening Day roster. Arizona is expected to head into the season with Gabriel Moreno and James McCann as its top two catchers, so Del Castillo would merely provide a third option at the position and would likely see most of his playing time at designated hitter. Because the 26-year-old still has a pair of minor-league options remaining, the Diamondbacks may prefer to option Del Castillo to Triple-A Reno, which would allow him to play on a more regular basis once he overcomes the calf issue.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Delivers homer off bench
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Del Castillo hit a two-run home run in his lone at-bat in Tuesday's 5-4 win over the Dodgers.
Del Castillo contributed to the Diamondbacks' comeback effort with a seventh-inning blast to pull them within a run. This was his second homer in his last five games, though he's mostly been limited to bench duties recently. The rookie is up to four homers, 16 RBI, nine runs scored and a .246/.281/.404 slash line over 40 big-league contests (121 plate appearances).
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: On bench against southpaw
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Del Castillo is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Guardians.
Though his absence from the lineup against a left-handed starter (Parker Messick) doesn't come as a surprise, the left-handed-hitting Del Castillo was on the bench for two matchups against right-handed starters over the Diamondbacks' previous three contests. Del Castillo has slashed an underwhelming .232/.270/.391 with a 32.4 percent strikeout rate over 74 plate appearances since being called up from Triple-A Reno coming out of the All-Star break, and until he picks up the pace at the dish, he might have to settle for more of a part-time role.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Idle Sunday
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Del Castillo is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rockies.
Del Castillo started in seven of the past eight games while going 8-for-29 (.276 average) with two home runs, four doubles, seven RBI and three runs. With Del Castillo on the bench Sunday, Lourdes Gurriel will serve as Arizona's designated hitter, and Jose Herrera will receive a start behind the plate.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Blasts second homer
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Del Castillo went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI in Saturday's loss to Colorado.
Del Castillo made the most of his opportunities at altitude, notching his second three-RBI performance in the last week. The catcher has appeared in 20 games since being called up after the All-Star break, seeing most of his action at DH and batting .239 (16-for-67) with two homers and 10 RBI.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Maintains presence against RHP
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Del Castillo started at designated hitter and went 1-for-4 in Sunday's 6-0 loss to the Pirates.
Del Castillo continued to be a lineup regular at DH against right-handed starters (Paul Skenes on Sunday). He doesn't have one plate appearance against a southpaw. His playing time could take a hit when Pavin Smith (oblique) returns, but a healthy Smith might be needed to handle first base. Additionally, the Diamondbacks are clearly sellers heading into the trade deadline, which suggests the organization may give developmental plate appearances to prospects like Del Castillo over the final two months.
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Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo: Ready for rehab assignment
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Del Castillo (back) has been sent to the rookie-level Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks to begin a rehab assignment, Alex Weiner of ArizonaSports.com reports.
Del Castillo landed on the 7-day injured list at Triple-A Reno a week ago with a lower-back injury. He had previously missed time with a right shoulder injury and only recently was allowed to resume defensive duties. If Del Castillo can bounce back quickly from the back issue and catch without any restrictions, he could get another look for a Diamondbacks club that's missing Gabriel Moreno (hand).
