The Red Sox are promoting outfield prospect Allan Castro from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville, as was first reported by Hunter Noll of Beyond the Monster.
Castro, 20, batted .247/.376/.379 with 20 doubles, two triples, three home runs, 29 RBIs, 39 runs scored, 15 stolen bases, 51 walks, and 54 strikeouts in 69 games (306 plate appearances) with Salem this season. While a .754 OPS certainly isn’t eye-popping, the switch-hitter has picked things up offensively as of late.
Over his last 18 games dating back to June 14, for instance, Castro has slashed a stout .328/.456/.508 with six doubles, one triple, one homer, nine runs driven in, 10 runs scored, three stolen bases, and more walks than strikeouts (16-to-10) across 79 trips to the plate heading into the All-Star break.
Among qualified hitters in the Carolina League to this point in the season, Castro ranks third in highest walk rate (16.7%), 12th in lowest strikeout rate (17.6 percent), 16th in on-base percentage, 17th in OPS, ninth in line-drive rate (25.3 percent), 17th in swinging-strike rate (9 percent), and 16th in wRC+ (123), per FanGraphs.
Defensively, Castro saw playing time at all three outfield positions for Salem. The 6-foot-1, 170-pounder logged 31 innings in right, 185 in left, and a team-leading 282 2/3 innings in center. Between the three spots, he recorded four outfield assists while committing four errors in 96 total chances.
Castro is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 22 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The Dominican Republic native originally signed with the Red Sox for $100,000 as an international free agent coming out of Santo Domingo in July 2019.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Castro did not make his organizational debut until 2021, when he posted a .756 OPS in 46 Dominican Summer League games and subsequently earned Red Sox Latin Program Position Player of the Year honors.
Castro took his talents stateside last season and appeared in 39 Florida Complex League games before making the jump to Salem in late August. Though he hit just .188 (6-for-32) in his first taste of Low-A ball, the Red Sox were encouraged by the year Castro had overall.
“Castro took a significant step forward this season,” Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero told BloggingtheRedSox.com back in September. “He’s continued to grow and gained a lot of strength. Additionally, he found ways to make his swing more efficient and started using the whole field more often.”
Romero went on to say that Castro’s “athleticism is starting to show itself more on the field” and noted that the then-19-year-old was “sort of a sleeper prospect who we expect will do more things in 2023.”
Castro, who does not turn 21 until next May, is now slated to join a talented outfield group in Greenville that is headlined by top prospect Roman Anthony. Like Castro, Anthony also began the season in Salem before earning a promotion last month.
(Picture of Allan Castro: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)
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