Castro Gives Phillies Option at Plate

New Philadelphia Phillies utility player Rodolfo Castro arrived in Philadelphia on Wednesday. What the Phillies do with him next is a bit murky.

The Phillies dealt for Castro in the final minutes of the trade deadline, giving up pitcher Bailey Falter to get him. Philly needed a utility player after designating Josh Harrison for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for their newly-acquired players, the other being pitcher Michael Lorenzen.

So what will the Phillies do with him? Manager Rob Thomson told MLB.com on Tuesday that he wasn’t quite certain.

“Young kid. Plays middle, second and short,” Thomson said. “Switch-hitter. I guess they sent him down just to hit right-handed and he was struggling against right-handed pitching, so they just moved him back to being a switch-hitter. We’ll have to take a look. I asked if he ever played the outfield. They said no.”

Castro was with the Pittsburgh Pirates for three seasons. He has a slash of .226/.299/.396/.695 in 180 career games, and he’s already played in more games this season (78) than in his other two MLB seasons. He also has 22 home runs and 57 RBI.

Castro gives the Phillies position flex, but not much pop. Thomson’s comment about switch-hitting is interesting because it gives some insight into how the Phillies may use him.

Castro’s splits against left-handed pitching are terrific. Against left-handers Castro is slashing .290/.368/.538/.906 this season, with all six of his home runs coming against them. The splits against right-handers drop to .173/.265/.192/.457.

The numbers speak for themselves. On the days Castro plays he’ll likely do it against left-handed pitching. With that slash against leftys, it also makes him a solid pinch-hitting option in those situations.

But, with Trea Turner and Bryson Stott manning the middle infield, the Phillies are hoping they won’t have to use Castro often.