The Twins announced that they have selected the right-hander’s contract Diego Castillo. The club has made room for 40 players by transferring to the right Justin Topa on the 60-day injured list. They opened the active list area yesterday by selecting the user on the left Kody Funderburk. Yesterday, they used 39 spots out of their 40 men but they got the right hand back. Josh Winder from IL for 60 days and optioned him to Triple-A. Betsy Helfand of St. Paul Pioneer Press was among those who relayed the Winder news to X.
Declan Goff of SKOR North relayed to X yesterday that Castillo is on track to join the team but Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com relayed to X that “travel constraints” are preventing Castillo from getting to the ballpark. St. Paul Saints was playing in Buffalo and Castillo had been from upstate New York. The righty did not arrive on time and this transaction had to wait a day but now it is official.
Castillo, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Twins in March and has thrown 18 innings for the Saints. He allowed 2.50 earned runs per nine innings while striking out 29.7% of the batters he faced, giving up walks at an 8.1% clip and getting grounders on 54.5% of balls in play.
Perhaps that gives the Twins hope that he can return to his old form in the big leagues. The righty pitched 259 2/3 innings for the Rays and Mariners from 2018 to 2022. During that time, he had a 3.12 ERA, a 28.1% strikeout rate, an 8.9% walk rate and a 50.7% groundball percentage.
The 2023 season was a struggle for Castillo, as he had a 6.23 ERA through 8 2/3 innings when the Mariners removed him from the 40-man roster. He also had a 5.13 ERA in Triple-A last year and opted for free agency at the end of the season. He signed a minor league deal with the Rangers but did not make that team’s camp, which led to his minor league deal with the Twins.
If Castillo can put that difficult 2023 campaign behind him, he’ll be a great asset to get for the Twins and help them out this year. He entered in 2024 with four years and 150 days of service time. Since he won’t be able to reach the six-year mark this year, he could be saved for 2025 by settlement. He also has a few options left and could be sent back down to Triple-A, but there is a small clock there. He is 22 days away from reaching five years of service and cannot be elected without his consent once he reaches that milestone.
As for Topa, his departure is just a habit. His “60 days” date back to his first IL stop, which was in late March. That means he’s already been on IL for over 60 days and can be reinstated whenever he’s healthy, which isn’t coming. Two weeks ago, he was diagnosed with a partial tear of the patellar tendon in his left knee, during a six-week layoff.
Winder came to IL for 60 days back in February when the Twins acquired Manuel Margot. He’s been recovering for about a month and is now healthy enough to be reinstated, though the club will keep him in Triple-A as optional depth until needed.
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