Miguel Castro Fits New Pitching Philosophy

With the Orioles committed to finding young, high-ceiling pitchers with minor league options remaining, striking a deal for righthander Miguel Castro seemed like a natural move.

The Orioles acquired Castro from the Rockies in April for a player to be named or cash. The 22-year-old showed enough promise two years ago to be included in the package that netted the Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

Castro, who signed with Toronto out of the Dominican Republic in 2012 and made his big league debut at age 20, has recorded a 6.12 ERA and allowed seven home runs in 32.1 big league innings.

Executive vice president Dan Duquette pounced on the opportunity to upgrade the pitching depth in the system. The Orioles don’t spend big on arms, so they must draft and develop them or swing deals that leave their own prospects intact.

“Castro has good size,” Duquette said of the 6-foot-5, 190-pound Castro. “He’s young, has excellent pitches and we think he could be a good major leaguer. If you look at his record, he went from being a starting pitcher in Class A ball (in 2014) to a reliever in the big leagues.”

Castro was part of a conga line of pitchers whom the Orioles have acquired this year. The list also includes starters Alec Asher and Gabriel Ynoa and relievers Andrew Faulkner, Paul Fry and Damien Magnifico.

“The ‘optionability’ of the pitchers is helpful to manage this staff day to day and have the strongest team ready to help us,” Duquette said.

“It’s something that’s been going on,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “It’s who we are, and who we’ve been. (Pitchers with options are a) commodity that’s a separator, and we can acquire it. And it shows how much confidence Dan and all of us have in our player-development system.”

— Roch Kubatko covers the Orioles for MASNSports.com