Adrian Del Castillo Continues to Destroy Baseballs for Reno

The Diamondbacks catching prospect continues his hot tear at the plate to begin the 2024 season.

Adrian Del Castillo during photo day at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Feb. 21, 2024. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY

Thursday's top prospect performance goes to Adrian Del Castillo, who continued his hot tear at the plate. The left-handed swinging catcher went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a three-run home run, driving in four runs for Triple-A Reno. In his first seven games of the season, Del Castillo is batting .417 with four doubles and four home runs.

Taking the phrase “light tower power” literally here. Adrian Del Castillo has 14 hard-hit balls out of 18 balls in play and 10 of them hit over 100 MPH. pic.twitter.com/TuuoSEza9t

— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) April 12, 2024

Even considering the offense-inflating environment of the Pacific Coast League, the underlying batted ball metrics back this strong start. Of the 19 balls Del Castillo has put into play this season, 15 have registered an exit velocity of 95 MPH or more, 11 over 100 MPH, and five barrels according to the Statcast data for Triple-A. Simply put, he's destroying baseballs right now for Reno and is making an effort to earn a major league opportunity. There's still not a large enough sample to make a judgment on if this is a legitimate breakout season at the plate for Del Castillo.

Hillsboro's game vs. Vancouver was postponed due to poor field conditions. It was raining up in the Pacific Northwest Thursday. Infield prospect Tommy Troy was expected to return to the lineup for Hillsboro, but will have to wait another day. He's been kept out of their last three games due to precautionary reasons for an undisclosed injury suffered in Saturday's game against Everett.

Triple-A: Reno Aces 7, Tacoma Rainiers 11

Cristian Mena was not as sharp as his previous two starts, allowing six runs in four-plus innings on five hits, five walks, and six strikeouts. All six of the runs allowed came on home runs, surrendering three on the day. While his velocity was up to 93.3 MPH, he struggled to command the ball. It's worth noting the game was played in a light rain, which affected both teams.

Justin Martinez was also not that sharp, walking the leadoff batter and giving up an opposite field two-run home run to former D-backs prospect Ryan Bliss. Those were the first two earned runs allowed by Martinez on the season, although he had a blown save last week where he allowed two runs to score after committing an error.

Pavin Smith launched out a home run, hit at 109 MPH off the bat that put Reno up 5-4 at the time. Jorge Barrosa went 1-for-5 out of the leadoff spot. Tristin English had a hit and a pair of walks. Kolten Wong is 2-for-8 with Reno after signing a minor league deal yesterday.

Double-A: Amarillo Sod Poodles 5, Midland RockHounds 8

Yu-Min Lin struck out 10, but allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings. Lin threw 87 pitches on the night, 57 for strikes. Ivan Melendez went hitless in two at-bats, but walked and scored in the 3rd. Deyvison De Los Santos singled in that third inning and Caleb Roberts drove both players home on a two-run triple.

Low-A: Visalia Rawhide 0, San Jose Giants 3

Jacob Steinmetz pitched five outstanding innings, but got hung a loss in part due to his own fielding miscue and a lack of run support. Steinmetz allowed just three hits, walked one batter, and struck out four. With one out in the 5th, he was unable to cleanly field a swinging bunt down the first base line. The next batter drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.

Druw Jones struck out three more times, giving him 13 in his first 24 plate appearances. After missing much of 2023, struggling this mightily out of the gate is a red flag for the former No. 2 overall pick. Cristofer Torin reached three times without a hit, getting hit by a pitch and walking twice. Torin is averaging nearly 4.7 pitches per plate appearance and has a .577 on-base percentage to start the year. Ruben Santana was hitless in four at-bats.