Adrian Del Castillo

In a draft class light on college bats, Del Castillo entered the year as the clear-cut, top college hitter in the class, with a track record of hitting that dates back to his time as a high schooler with Gulliver Prep in Miami when he was a top-200 prospect in the 2018 class. After hitting .336/.430/.571 over his first two seasons with Miami, Del Castillo took a step back in his draft-eligible third year this spring, hitting .284/.388/.411 through 51 games with more strikeouts (28) than walks (25) for the first time in his career, and just three home runs. That lack of over-the-fence power is concerning for teams who are skeptical about Del Castillo sticking behind the plate at the next level. He would have to play a corner if he can’t catch, which will put more pressure on his bat and his power production. Each of his three home runs this spring were to right field, and historically in his better home run seasons, Del Castillo has mostly used the pull side. He did homer five times in 37 games in the Cape Cod League in 2019, but that power production with a wood bat also came with an uncharacteristic 32-to-9 strikeout-to-walk rate. This spring he did most of his damage on fastballs and struggled to regularly impact breaking stuff, though that wasn’t much of an issue for him in previous years. Del Castillo does have a loose, easy swing from the left side, with solid zone recognition and low strikeout rates for his career, so many scouts still think he’ll be a plus hitter, but the question of defensive profile and impact potential loom after his 2021 season. Del Castillo put in plenty of work over the summer with Royals catcher Salvador Perez, where he worked on improving his arm strength, blocking and receiving but he still needs work in those areas—particularly the latter two. While teams are split about his chances to catch, his pure hitting ability and offensive track record should make him a first-rounder.