PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Jesus Castillo as the organization’s Bill Mazeroski Defender of the Year and Derek Diamond as the organization’s Kent Tekulve Reliever of the Year. Both announcements were made by Director of Coaching and Player Development Michael Chernow.
The 23-year-old Castillo made just nine errors in 288 total chances (.969 fielding percentage) while playing at seven different positions (first base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field, center field and right field) in 100 games split between Double-A Altoona (67 games), Low-A Bradenton (two rehab games), the Rookie-Level Florida Complex League Pirates (three rehab games), High-A Greensboro (three rehab games) and Triple-A Indianapolis (25 games) in 2026.
Castillo, who was signed by Pittsburgh as a non-drafted free agent on July 16, 2019, led the Florida Complex League in batting (.352) and ranked second in on-base percentage (.439), seventh in OPS (.822) and tied for ninth in hits (45) while playing with the FCL Pirates in 2022. He led the Florida State League in walks (102) while playing with Bradenton in 2023.
Castillo has a 1.000 fielding percentage in center field (22-for-22), a .993 fielding percentage at first base (428-for-431), a .979 fielding percentage in left field (46-for-47), a .976 fielding percentage at second base (494-for-506), a .959 fielding percentage in right field (70-for-73), a .948 fielding percentage at shortstop (325-for-343) and a .938 fielding percentage at third base (242-for-258) in his minor league career, which began with the Rookie-Level DSL Pirates Black team in 2021.
The Bill Mazeroski Defender of the Year award is given to the top defender in the Pirates minor-league system. The award is named in honor of Pirates Hall-of-Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski, who won eight Gold Glove awards during his storied 17-year career and earned the reputation as one of the finest fielding second basemen in the history of the game.
The 25-year-old Diamond went a combined 7-0 with two saves, a 2.48 ERA (58.0ip/16er), 57 strikeouts and a 1.02 WHIP in 37 appearances (two starts) split between the Rookie-Level Florida Complex League Pirates (one rehab outing), Low-A Bradenton (two rehab outings), Double-A Altoona (five outings) and Triple-A Indianapolis (29 outings/two starts) in 2026.
Diamond, who was selected by Pittsburgh out of the University of Mississippi in the sixth round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft, began the season on the seven-day injured list before pitching on a rehab assignment with the FCL Pirates and Bradenton from May 12-19. He was reinstated at Altoona on May 23, where he pitched 10.0 scoreless innings and posted 13 strikeouts, a .063 batting average against (2-for-32) and a 0.20 WHIP across his five appearances from May 23-June 7.
Diamond was promoted to Indianapolis on June 9 and made his Triple-A debut on June 11 vs. Columbus. He went 5-0 with one save, a 3.14 ERA (43.0ip/15er) and 39 strikeouts across his 29 total appearances (two starts) with the Indians.
He has gone a combined 25-14 over 100 appearances/43 starts (296.2ip) since making his professional debut in 2022.
The Kent Tekulve Reliever of the Year award is named in honor of the Pirates career saves leader. Tekulve pitched 12 seasons with the Pirates, amassing 158 saves and a 2.68 ERA in that time while helping the club to their fifth World Championship in 1979, while also being named to the 1980 All-Star team.