Adrian

Del Castillo

Interest between the two teams was reported over the weekend, but it seems that the two sides are coming closer to an agreement. Santana hit just .219/.308/.325 with 11 homers, 54 RBI, and seven stolen bases in 474 plate appearances between the Guardians and Cubs in 2025. If this deal does come to fruition, he’ll be given a chance to battle Pavin Smith and Adrian Del Castillo for starting reps at either first base or designated hitter.

Del Castillo hasn’t been any better than McCann this year, even against righties, and pinch-hitters are just naturally at something of a disadvantage, so it seemed like an odd choice from Torey Lovullo to make the switch. Still, at least it was replacing a catcher with a catcher.... except Lovullo trusts Del Castillo so little behind the plate that he actually pulled Gabriel Moreno out of the DH spot to catch the 10th inning. That could have but didn’t really backfire on Lovullo, as the pinch-hitter in the pitcher’s spot was still on deck when the 5-1 defeat concluded in the 11th.

Castillo got the start at designated hitter on Tuesday. He took Tristan Beck deep for a two-run blast in the second inning for his third home run of the season. The 25-year-old catcher is getting sporadic playing time in the D-Backs lineup, hitting .241/.278/.380 with the three homers and 14 RBI across 115 plate appearances.

The rest of the team went 11-for-29 with five strikeouts today, making Del Castillo’s performance look particularly bad. The 25-year-old has struck out in 38% of his 108 plate appearances while hitting .235/.269/.343 this season. The D-backs don’t seem satisfied with him as a catcher, and he’ll need to do quite a bit better than this if he’s going to help at DH or first base.

The D-backs made it pretty clear during Gabriel Moreno’s absence that they don’t think much of Del Castillo’s defense behind the plate, and if the 25-year-old is going to make it as a first baseman/DH, he needs to do better than this. He’s currently batting .231/.265/372 with two homers and a 30/3 K/BB in 83 plate appearances.

Del Castillo got the scoring started with a bang on Sunday, victimizing Tanner Gordon for a 403-foot (103.8 mph EV) three-run shot in the home half of the first inning, giving the Diamondbacks a lead they would never surrender. He then singled and scored during the team’s eight-run two-out rally in the fifth inning. For the season, the 25-year-old backstop is now slashing .255/.265/.383 with one homer and seven RBI in his first 49 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks.

Smith has been on the shelf since early July with a right oblique strain, and this is our first report of him swinging. The next step after live batting practice is usually a rehab assignment, so Smith could be looking at a mid-August return to Arizona. That would likely mean that one of Adrian Del Castillo or Tyler Locklear would lose playing time against right-handed pitching with Smith inserted as either the DH or 1B.

In Del Castillo’s first game of 2025, he reminded many of the success he had in 2024. The 25-year-old singled all three times — not that anyone should be complaining — and looked the part against Andre Pallante and the St. Louis bullpen. Those who need help behind the plate should be looking to add Del Castillo.

The 25-year-old backstop impressed in an 87 plate-appearance sample with the Diamondbacks late in the 2024 season — slashing .313/.368/.525 with four homers, 19 RBI and one stolen base. It’s unlikely that he’s coming up to sit, so expect him to get a shot at regular at-bats which will instantly make him an intriguing option in deeper two-catcher mixed leagues.

Del Castillo was battling some arm fatigue earlier in the season, but he has now played 14 games at Triple-A, slashing .288/.386/.559 with four home runs, 16 RBI, and a 19/10 K/BB ratio. He has split his time between catcher and designated hitter and could get another opportunity with the Diamondbacks after the trade deadline if players like Eugenio Suarez are moved to another team.