Atlanta Braves first-base prospect Carlos Castro doubled up on his home run total for the 2017 season with his first career three-homer game in Class A Advanced Florida's 14-2 win over Daytona Wednesday afternoon.
Castro entered the game with three long balls on the year before crushing two-run dingers off Dayton starter Jesus Reyes in the second and third innings and then getting to Tortugas reliever Juan Martinez for a three-run bomb in the fifth.
"It was just one of those days where I didn't chase breaking balls early and they made mistakes," Castro told MiLB.com through an interpreter, Fire Frogs hitting coach Carlos Mendez. "The first guy hung a slider 0-2. The last one was a first-pitch changeup. I was just seeing the ball really clearly. I was lucky they made mistakes."
As if his trio of home runs wasn't enough, the 22-year-old singled in his other two at-bats on the day to finish a perfect 5-for-5 with three runs scored and a career-high eight RBIs. Castro is now hitting a robust .345 with six home runs and 27 RBIs in 30 games for the Fire Frogs after batting .266 with 17 homers and 57 RBIs in 84 games for Class A Rome in 2016.
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"He's ready to attack pitchers and he hits mistake pitches really well," Mendez said. "They make a mistake and he's ready to hit them. That's part of the learning process -- he stays ready to hit every pitch."
"I was relaxed," Castro said. "I stayed with an approach up the middle and if they made a mistake, I made solid contact and it worked out well."
Austin Riley, the Braves' No. 12 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, Alex Jackson (Braves' No. 23) and Anfernee Seymour (Braves' No. 30) each also contributed big days at the dish.

Riley, 20, went 2-for-4 with two walks and three runs scored while hitting his fourth double of the season. Jackson, 21, collected two doubles, a walk and two runs scored, bringing his season OPS to .955. Seymour, 21, went 3-for-6 with an RBI and run scored to raise his 2017 average to .400.
The Fire Frogs improved to .500 on the season thanks to an all-around monster effort at the plate.