3 Phillies Who Have No Business Being on the Playoff Roster
By Tyler Maher
2. Rodolfo Castro
Castro was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Aug. 1 trade deadline for pitcher Bailey Falter. A reserve infielder, he’s played sparingly since then, getting into just 12 games with Philadelphia and only two in September.
Castro was already having a rough season with the Pirates, but things have been even worse with the Phillies. He’s gone just 3-for-24 with no extra-base hits and 10 strikeouts since coming over.
The 24-year-old doesn’t add value elsewhere, either. He rates as a below-average defender by advanced metrics and has made several mistakes on the bases, getting thrown out in four of his five steal attempts.
Given how infrequently he’s played, Castro must be pretty rusty at this point, too. Overall, he’s been worth 0.4 wins below replacement this year, again per Baseball-Reference.
Bryson Stott and Trae Turner don’t need replacing in the lineup very often, and when that happens we’re much better off with the versatile Edmundo Sosa slotting in than with Castro.
Playing meaningless games for Pittsburgh and playing intense postseason games are two totally different things. I wouldn’t trust Castro in a big moment given how erratic and mistake-prone his performance has been this season.