Yesterday the Phillies released RHP Starlyn Castillo. Castillo had a 3.34 ERA with the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, but had 20 walk to 20 strikeouts in 29.2 innings and the 22 year old was sitting 89-93 with his fastball. Given that Castillo had a 6.49 ERA over the course of his minor league career and that was only 147 innings across seasons spanning back to 2019, this would not be particularly newsworthy. The exception is that back in July of 2018 the Phillies signed Castillo for $1,600,000 as a 16 year old, making him the crowning jewel of their signing class that year.
Castillo was universally ranked as on of the top 20 prospects in the 2018-2019 July 2 class, and one of the best pitchers in the class. He lacked physical projection, but was up to 96+ as a 15 and then 16 year old, and his breaking ball looked like a future plus pitch. His first season, 2019, was characterized by injuries and struggles with command. He lost the 2020 season in the same way that everyone lost 2020, and then by June of 2021 his elbow had given out and he headed for Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2022, but outside of success in Australia during the winter of 2022-2023 he never really got it together. His fastball was sitting more in the low 90s, occasionally touching up to 95 and 96. His breaking ball was still a great pitch, but he struggled to throw it and his fastball for strikes, and his changeup just never came along. At the time of his signing it was thought that he would end up in the bullpen if he struggled, but by the end he couldn’t throw enough strikes or hard enough to make it work.
There are cautionary tales about prioritizing velocity and not projection for teenagers, and about giving large bonuses to international teenage pitchers to be made about Castillo’s career. He is also yet another marker on the road that Tommy John Surgery is not a cure-all and is instead a medical procedure with a chance to fix a career ending injury. What this means int he overall context of the Phillies is that Castillo was one of the last major international signing of the Matt Klentak era still in the Phillies system.
In his 4 seasons as General Manager, the international department of the Phillies handed bonuses greater than $500,000 to Francisco Morales, Brayan Gonzalez, Nicolas Torres, Luis Garcia, Victor Vargas, Abrahan Gutierrez*, Simon Muzziotti*, Cesar Rodriguez, Josh Gessner, Fernando Ortega, Starlyn Castillo, and Yhoswar Garcia. Only Morales and Muzziotti made the majors and only Muzziotti is still in the system, now in the last year of his minor league deal after being designated for assignment. Even among the lower dollar signings, the only current member of the 40 man roster from those years is Johan Rojas, a $10,000 signing. There is more hope from the 2019 class that includes prospects such as Samuel Aldegheri, Jean Cabrera, Felix Reyes, Jaydenn Estanista, and Estibenzon Jimenez to have the next major leaguer, but there isn’t much left. On the trade front, only Curtis Mead truly stands out as a signing that has had major success elsewhere.
The causes of the issues are too numerous or obscured to make definitive claims, and it should be noted that the 2021 class and 2022 class have some cracks showing in the major signings as well. Player development and talent acquisition are tied at the hip, and for years both have struggled to find their own footing let alone enough to drag the other upward. Prospects are not sure things, and baseball is hard, but the mistakes of the past have a way of compounding and catching up with you in the future. In this case the failures of the Klentak era and the Amaro era before him, have shaped the Phillies major league strategy and weakened the minor league system’s ability to support the major league roster. Starlyn Castillo wasn’t a load bearing pillar of that era and after his last few seasons, nothing was expected of him, but his departure marks a definitive end of an era.
*Signed after their original contract with another team was voided due to violations.
Thanks, Matt, Always a well written thought out piece.