Willi Castro

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Detroit Tigers #9 prospect in 2020
  TRACK RECORD: Castro was born in Puerto Rico but raised in the Dominican Republic and became the Indians' top non-Cuban international signee in 2013 when he signed for $825,000. Detroit acquired Castro in exchange for Leonys Martin and Kyle Dowdy at the 2018 trade deadline. He has been one of the youngest players at every level he's reached. Castro made it to the big leagues in August and started 28 games at shortstop for the Tigers.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Castro features good bat-to-ball skills from both sides of the plate. His contact has helped him to maintain a similar OPS from both sides of the plate in the minors, but he has more natural power from the left side. His raw power is a tick above-average but won't translate to more than fringe-average power. He has the necessary range, speed and hands to stick at shortstop. Even with average tools, he showed inconsistency in his brief callup, botching routine plays yet making difficult ones look easy. He's an average runner.
  
  THE FUTURE: His time in the big leagues wasn't pretty, but his ability to get on base and athletic actions could eventually help him reach his ceiling of a second-division regular or a utility option.
• 
  Ranked Detroit Tigers #9 prospect in 2019
  Track Record: Castro, who was born in Puerto Rico but raised in the Dominican Republic, became the Indians’ top non-Cuban international signee in 2013 when he inked a deal for $825,000. He has been among the youngest players at every stop during his pro career, and he opened 2018 as the fourth-youngest player in the Double-A Eastern League. The Tigers acquired Castro from the Indians as a part of the deal for outfielder Leonys Martin. He finished the year with a cameo at Triple-A Toledo.
  
  Scouting Report: Switch-hitters can be tricky to project, and that’s certainly the case with Castro. For example, at Double-A Akron, he hit all five of his home runs lefthanded, whereas all but one of the four home runs he hit with Double-A Erie came from the right side. Overall, he projects as a below-average hitter with a 5-10 home run pop. He’s a solid defender at shortstop who was rated by EL managers as the circuit’s best defender at the position. He backs that up with plus arm and above-average speed.
  
  The Future: With further development and physical maturity, Castro could be a second-division regular. He’s likely to spend the bulk of his 2019 at Toledo.
• 
  Ranked Cleveland Guardians #7 prospect in 2018
  The Indians have aggressively pushed Castro since signing him out of the Dominican Republic in 2013 and he had been the youngest player on his team at every stop of his pro career until 2017, when he was edged by Triston McKenzie and had to settle for being the youngest position player at high Class A Lynchburg. Despite his youth, Castro has held his own at every level and had a breakout season with Lynchburg, earning a spot on the Carolina League's postseason all-star team. A switch-hitter, Castro sprays line drives from both sides of the plate. He started coming into his power more in 2017, when he hit 11 home runs to more than double his career total. He is an aggressive hitter, limiting his walks, but controls the strike zone well and makes a lot of contact. He has above-average speed and is a threat on the bases. Defensively, he has an above-average arm, good hands and infield actions at shortstop. He still has to work on his consistency after making 25 errors in each of the last two years, but his tools and instincts give him a good chance to stay at shortstop. Castro is a confident player and his approach to the game has matured in the last year. He will advance to Double-A Akron to start 2018.
• 
  Ranked Cleveland Guardians #15 prospect in 2017
  Since signing Castro out of the Dominican Republic in 2013, the Indians have pushed him aggressively. He has been the youngest player on his team at every stop of his pro career, but he has held his own and earned a late-season promotion to high Class A Lynchburg in 2016. A switch-hitter, Castro sprays line drives from both sides of the plate. His power is more doubles pop now, but he projects to develop more as he physically matures. He has above-average speed, which he is still learning to harness. Defensively, he has good hands and infield actions at shortstop. He still needs to work to improve his consistency in the field after making 25 errors in 2016, but his tools give him a chance to stay at shortstop. Castro earns praise for his baseball acumen and confidence. He will return to Lynchburg to start 2017, when he will still be 19 years old.
• 
  Ranked Cleveland Guardians #26 prospect in 2016
  Castro signed out of the Dominican Republic in July 2013 and made his pro debut the next year as a 17-year-old in the Rookie-level Arizona League, skipping past the Dominican Summer League. He was the youngest member of his team in each of his first two seasons, as the Indians continued to push him with an assignment to short-season Mahoning Valley in 2015. A switch-hitter, Castro sprays line drives from both sides of the plate. He doesn't produce much power now, but should be able to develop some as he physically matures. Defensively, he has good hands and infield actions, giving the Indians reason to believe he'll be able to stick at shortstop. Castro earns praise for his baseball acumen and confidence. He should be ready to move up to low Class A Lake County in 2016, where he again figures to be one of the youngest players in the Midwest League.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked Carolina League #12 prospect in 2017
  After a middling season as a 19-year-old in the Midwest League, Castro moved up a level this year and broke out. A switch-hitter, Castro showed aptitude from both sides of the plate and little if any discernable platoon split. His .290 average was good for fourth in the Carolina League. Despite his slight build, Castro showed burgeoning power this season with 11 home runs. The total is one more than his career mark entering the season. His swing features a direct path to the ball and his extremely strong hands help him send balls out of the yard. He also improved his plate discipline this season. Specifically, he got better at laying off breaking balls out of the zone. Castro is plus defender right now with a plus throwing arm, but will have to work hard to stay at shortstop. His hands and feet work together well, but he needs to improve his lateral range to avoid moving elsewhere on the diamond. He profiles as a pesky hitter at either the top or the bottom of the order who can do damage with line drives and his legs.

• July, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Castro was born in Puerto Rico but raised in the Dominican Republic and became the Indians’ top non-Cuban international signee in 2013 when he signed for $825,000. Detroit acquired Castro in exchange for Leonys Martin and Kyle Dowdy at the 2018 trade deadline. He has been one of the youngest players at every level he’s reached. Castro made it to the big leagues in August and started 28 games at shortstop for the Tigers.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Castro features good bat-to-ball skills from both sides of the plate. His contact has helped him to maintain a similar OPS from both sides of the plate in the minors, but he has more natural power from the left side. His raw power is a tick above-average but won’t translate to more than fringe-average power. He has the necessary range, speed and hands to stick at shortstop. Even with average tools, he showed inconsistency in his brief callup, botching routine plays yet making difficult ones look easy. He’s an average runner.
  
  THE FUTURE: His time in the big leagues wasn’t pretty, but his ability to get on base and athletic actions could eventually help him reach his ceiling of a second-division regular or a utility option.
• February, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Castro was born in Puerto Rico but raised in the Dominican Republic and became the Indians' top non-Cuban international signee in 2013 when he signed for $825,000. Detroit acquired Castro in exchange for Leonys Martin and Kyle Dowdy at the 2018 trade deadline. He has been one of the youngest players at every level he's reached. Castro made it to the big leagues in August and started 28 games at shortstop for the Tigers.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Castro features good bat-to-ball skills from both sides of the plate. His contact has helped him to maintain a similar OPS from both sides of the plate in the minors, but he has more natural power from the left side. His raw power is a tick above-average but won't translate to more than fringe-average power. He has the necessary range, speed and hands to stick at shortstop. Even with average tools, he showed inconsistency in his brief callup, botching routine plays yet making difficult ones look easy. He's an average runner.
  
  THE FUTURE: His time in the big leagues wasn't pretty, but his ability to get on base and athletic actions could eventually help him reach his ceiling of a second-division regular or a utility option.
• July, 2018 Scouting Report
  Castro is again one of the youngest players in his level and is again holding his own. He hasn’t found his power stroke in Akron after last year hitting a career-high 11 home runs with high Class A Lynchburg, but, after a slow April, he’s found his footing offensively. He still needs work on his consistency defensively, but his tools give him a chance to stay at shortstop.
• December, 2017 Scouting Report
  Track Record: The Indians have pushed Castro since signing him out of the Dominican Republic in 2013, and he had been the youngest player on his team at every stop of his pro career until 2017, when he was edged by Triston McKenzie and had to settle for being the youngest position player. Despite his youth, Castro has held his own at every level and had a breakout 2017 season at high Class A Lynchburg. Scouting Report: A switch-hitter, Castro sprays line drives from both sides of the plate. He started coming into his power more in 2017, when he hit 11 home runs to more than double his previous career total. He is an aggressive hitter, limiting his walks, but he controls the strike zone well and makes a lot of contact. He has above-average speed and is a threat on the bases. Defensively, he has an above-average arm, good hands and sound infield actions at shortstop. He still has to work on his consistency after making 25 errors in each of the last two years, but his tools and instincts give him a good chance to stay at shortstop. The Future: Castro is a confident player whose approach to the game has matured in the last year. He will advance to Double-A Akron in 2018.