Jose

Castillo

Nishi hit .289/.329/.475 for Yomiuri last season. Although he’s primarily a second baseman, he can play other positions. Odds are that he wouldn’t do a lot offensively in the majors, but he’d have to be an upgrade over Abraham Nunez.

Castillo will continue to split time with Bobby Hill for the time being, but eventually the Pirates will have to decide between him, Hill, and Freddy Sanchez for two infield spots at second and third. Castillo has value in NL-only leagues but isn’t playing enough or helping in enough areas besides AVG to have value in mixed leagues.

Castillo, Pittsburgh’s shortstop of the future, is batting .271 with 2 HR and 26 RBI in 235 AB for Altoona this season. He’s been seeing time at second base because of Pokey Reese’s injury, but there’s little chance the Pirates will promote him to the majors.

“We added a leg kick to help him stay back and help him drive the ball the other way,” manager Lloyd McClendon said. Castillo promptly went into an 0-for-20 skid immediately following the change, but tripled Tuesday to break the slump. He’s gone 4-for-9 with a home run since. “Now I’m seeing the results that Gerald told me I would have,” Castillo said. Even so, unless Castillo suddenly gets red hot, we see no reason why his 614 OPS gives him the edge over Bobby Hill and Freddy Sanchez going into spring training 2005.

Castillo went 7-for-14 with four RBI and five runs scored in the series at Coors Field.

Castillo also sat Wednesday, so he’s started just one of the last four games. “I don’t know why I am not playing,” he said. “Everything is OK. I feel good. I don’t know what happened.” Part of what’s happened was the move to make Chris Duffy a regular, even though Duffy did little to justify the assignment. That’s meant Jose Bautista has to get playing time at third, and Freddy Sanchez isn’t going to head to the bench. Castillo will probably resume playing regularly soon enough, but fantasy leaguers could have better short-term options.

Castillo has homered in five straight games. During that stretch he’s belted six long balls and gone 10-for-22 with 14 RBI. Castillo, who now has eight homers on the season, should easily surpass his career best of 11 big flies. He’s not a bad short-term option in mixed leagues while playing so well.

The homer was his 10th of the season but just his second in the month of June. A very productive May got Castillo picked up in many formats, but he’s looking much more like the hitter who finished April with a 606 OPS right now. He should still end up with plenty of value in NL-only formats.

Castillo thought he had the homer. With one on, one out and the Pirates down by one in the bottom of the ninth, Castillo hit a long drive to right that bounced off the padding atop the right field wall and was first called a home run. After the umpires conferred, the ruling was changed to an RBI double, putting both teams back on to the field. The following hitter, Ryan Doumit, singled down the right-field line to truly end the game and give the Pirates a four-game sweep of Milwaukee. In addition to the double, Castillo had two sac flies in the game, giving him 17 RBI in six games. Before May, he had only had 17 RBI in a month once in his career.

Obviously, it’s time for the Brewers to add a 14th pitcher. The Pirates have outscored Milwaukee 26-4 the last two days. Castillo has suddenly homered in four straight games after totalling two bombs in his first 44 games. With a .357 average in May, he could be looked at as a short-term option in mixed leagues.