Originally signed by Toronto as a non-drafted free agent from the Dominican Republic on Jan. 5, 2012...grew up idolizing fellow Dominican Pedro Martinez, who he met for the first time in 2019 as he was beginning to establish himself as a regular in the Majors with the Orioles...on meeting Martinez, Castro said, "to see someone that has achieved so many great things in his life and still remain humble and willing to share a few minutes to talk to a young player like myself was a special moment."...Miguel has been well-traveled during his time in the big leagues, having been traded five times while appearing with six different teams in his MLB career...In 2022, he donated a fully functional fire truck, including equipment, to his hometown of Villa Hermosa in the Dominican Republic...he was able to purchase the fire engine thanks to a contact he developed with the fire chief of New York during his time with the Yankees and Mets...Villa Hermosa had been without a working fire truck prior to Castro's donation...the fire truck was officially donated by his family, who passed off the keys to the Villa Hermosa fire chief in a ceremony attended by community officials, clergy and media...His father, Miguel Sr., trained as a boxer in his youth but was unable to pursue a pro career due to a lack of resources, including a mentor who could train him...Miguel Sr. went on to work in the meat industry, still passing along the strength and work ethic he learned in both trades to his son...Had appeared in parts of eight seasons in the Majors before he was able to have his parents, Miguel Sr. and Yesenia, see him pitch in person...his parents were finally able to see him pitch in the Majors on June 12, 2023, with Miguel Sr. throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Chase Field...Miguel Jr. recorded the save that night in the D-backs win over the Phillies...Is the owner of an extensive shoe collection featuring an estimated 250 pairs of Air Jordan sneakers, ranging from Jordan 1s to 13s...Miguel cited the fashion and color combinations that make Jordans his sneakers of choice...Signed a Minor League contract with the Astros on Dec. 29, 2024...is under a one-year contract for 2025.
2024
Made 11 appearances for the D-backs before being released in July, posting a 5.93 ERA (9ER/13.2IP)…Was a member of the D-backs Opening Day roster and pitched in eight games before being placed on the 15-Day Injured List (right shoulder inflammation) on April 23...Reinstated from the IL on July 11 and made three appearances before being designated for assignment on July 30...was released by Arizona on Aug. 1...did not make another professional appearance following his release.
2023
Went 6-6 with seven saves, a 4.31 ERA (31 ER in 64.2 IP) and 1.18 WHIP over 75 games in his first season with the D-backs...Set career bests in games, wins, saves and WHIP. Finished first in the NL in games and tied for second in the Majors (also: Emmanuel Clase/CLE and Justin Topa/SEA), behind Matt Brash/SEA (78)...Earned the first win of his D-backs career on May 6 vs. Nationals (ER in IP)...His save on May 28 vs. Red Sox surpassed his previous season high of four set in 2015 while with the Blue Jays...Tied a career high seven straight games (6.0 IP, 20 BF) without allowing a hit from June 15-30 (also: 2019 with Orioles)...Set a single-season, career-best and team-high 12 straight scoreless road games (11.2 IP) from April 2 to May 23 (previous: eight with Orioles, 2019)…went 1-0 with three saves, a 0.86 WHIP and 12 strikeouts in the span...His sixth win on Aug. 24 vs. Reds set a career high (prev: five in 2022 with NYY)...Placed on the Paternity List from Sept. 22-25...Finished the season with a career and team-high 14-game scoreless streak, with a 0.95 WHIP and 17 strikeouts over 12.2 innings...Limited opponents to a .171 average (18-for-105) off his slider, with 33 strikeouts and a 33.8 whiff pct...Limited righties to a .206 average (32-for-155) with 41 strikeouts and nine walks and lefties to a .226 average (19-for-84) with 19 strikeouts...POSTSEASON: Went 0-1 with a 10.50 ERA (seven ER in 6.0 IP) in eight games.
2022
Limited to 34 games with the Yankees due to a strained right shoulder and went 5-0 with a 4.03 ERA (13 ER in 29.0 IP) and 31 strikeouts…tallied career bests in wins and home runs per 9.0 IP (0.62)....In 19 home games, was 3-0 with a 2.20 ERA (4 ER in 16.1 IP), 20 strikeouts, a .217 opponent average and 1.04 WHIP....26 of his 34 outings were scoreless…did not allow a run in 13 of his first 14 appearances from April 8-May 12 (2-0, 1.46 ERA; 2 ER in 12.1 IP)...Held opposing batters to a .213 average (13-for-61) with runners on-base....Allowed just two home runs, both to right-handed batters (131 BF)....Placed on the injured list on July 13 (strained right shoulder)…reinstated on Oct. 3....Appeared in two games in the AL Championship Series vs. Yankees…tossed 2.0 hitless innings with two strikeouts.
2021
Had a career-best 3.45 ERA (27 earned runs/70.1 innings) in a career-high 69 games...His 0.90 HR/9 and 6.14 H/9 were also career-bests...Led Mets relievers with a career-high 69 games and also paced Mets bullpen arms in innings pitched...Tied a career-high with three wins (also 2017)...Struck out a career-high 77 batters...Held opposing batters to a .189 (48-254) batting average, 10th best among NL relievers (min. 50.0 innings)...Tied a career-high with four strikeouts in a game twice (May 25 vs. Colorado & July 26 vs. Atlanta)...Posted a 1.64 ERA (two earned runs/11.0 innings) in April...Had a 1.15 ERA (two earned runs/15.2 innings) in 15 games from July 11-August 14...Was used as an opener twice...His two starts matched his career total entering the season...Pitched 1.0 scoreless inning in each of those outings.
2020
Began the season with Baltimore before being dealt to the Mets at the trade deadline...Tied a career-high with four strikeouts in 2.0 innings on Aug. 5 vs. Miami...Struck out at least one batter in 23 of his 26 appearances... Recorded a 13.86 K/9, 14th-best among all qualifying relievers... Was tied for ninth among major-league relievers with 38 strikeouts...Surrendered four homers and 13 walks in 24.2 innings...Faced his former club in his first appearance with the Mets...Threw a scoreless inning at Camden Yards...Struck out the side on Sept. 16 at Philadelphia to earn his first win with the Mets.
2019
His 65 appearances were the second-most on the Orioles (LHP Paul Fry - 66)...His 73.1 innings as a reliever ranked as the 10th-most in the AL...Worked a season-high 3.0 innings twice (5/10 vs. LAA and 6/1 vs. SF)...23 of his 65 appearances were more than 1.0 inning...Posted a 0.89 ERA (2 ER/20.1 IP) when pitching on three-or-more days of rest...Had a season-long scoreless stretch of 9.2 IP (10 games) from 8/25-9/17 ... Recorded his first save of the season on 4/2 at TOR; was his first save since 4/23/15 vs. BAL, while with TOR...Worked to a 3.72 ERA (12 ER/29.0 IP) with a .183 (19-for-104) opponents batting average in 29 appearances after the All-Star Break...Allowed just three of 17 inherited runners to score after the All-Star Break; compared to allowing 17 of 30 inherited runners to score in the first half...Allowed a career-high six runs (a career-high-tying five earned) on 9/18 vs. TOR (0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K, HR); allowed a go-ahead grand slam to Randal Grichuk ...27 of his 38 earned runs allowed during the season came at Oriole Park...Had a 2.91 ERA (11 ER/34.0 IP) in 35 road games, as opposed to a 6.18 ERA (27 ER/39.1 IP) in 30 games at Oriole Park...Allowed home runs in three-straight appearances (4/2-6) for the first time in his career...Allowed opponents to hit .429 (6-for-14) with the bases loaded, including two grand slams and 20 RBI.
2018
Appeared in a career-high 63 games; entered the season with a combined 76 appearances in his previous three seasons... Led Orioles relievers in innings pitched (83.2); ranked second in appearances (62) and fourth in strikeouts (55)...His 83.2 innings pitched in relief ranked as the fourth-most among major league relievers... Pitched to a 1.84 ERA (3 ER/14.2 IP) in his final 11 games of the season... Worked a season-high 4.2 innings on 5/10 vs. KC...Allowed eight of 38 inherited runners to score (21.1%), the second-best inherited runners scored percentage on the team... 19 of his 62 relief appearances on the season were 2.0-or-more innings... Lost back-to-back appearances for the first time in his career (8/7 at TB, 8/10 vs. BOS)... Made 32 road appearances, going 1-4 with a 4.23 ERA (21 ER/44.2 IP) and 31 home appearances, going 1-3 with a 3.67 ERA (17 ER/41.2 IP)... Made his lone start of the season, second of his career, on 7/15 vs. TEX; worked 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on one hit with three walks and two strikeouts.
2017
Acquired from Colorado on 4/7 in exchange for RHP Jon Keller...Spent most of the season with the Major League club around three stints with Double-A Bowie...Appeared in a career-high 39 games, including one start, and posted a record of 3-3 with a 3.53 ERA (26 ER/66.1 IP)... Recorded a career-high 38 strikeouts at the Major League level... Began the season with Bowie and made one appearance for the Baysox before being recalled by the Orioles on 5/17…Made his Orioles debut that same day and tossed 1.0 scoreless inning in relief (1 K)...Went 3-0 with a 4.44 ERA (12 ER/24.1IP) in six appearances for Bowie...Earned his first career win on 6/20 vs. CLE after tossing 0.2 hitless innings in relief (1 K)...Worked a career-high 6.0 innings on 8/3 vs. DET…Entered the game in the third inning and worked 6.0 shutout frames, allowing just one hit with one walk and two strikeouts...Made his first Major League start in his final appearance of the season on 9/30 at TB…Took the loss after allowing three runs on six hits in 3.1 innings (1 HR, 1 BB, 3 K)... Posted a 2.37 ERA (10 ER/38.0 IP) and a .198 average against (26-for-131) in 19 appearances at Oriole Park...In the month of August, went 1-0 with 1.50 ERA (4 ER/24.0 IP) in 10 games, the lowest ERA of any month of his Major League career (min. 10.0 IP)...Posted a 16.1 scoreless inning streak from 8/18-9/4, the longest streak among all O's pitchers in 2017...Held right-handed hitters to a .193 (28-for-145) while with the Orioles.
2016
Made his second Opening Day roster, first with the Rockies, and recorded a 6.14 ERA (14.2 IP, 10 ER) over three stints on the Major League roster...Made 19 appearances over three stints on the active roster … went scoreless in 13 of 19 appearances with no hits allowed in nine games...Pitched a career-high two innings and struck out a career-high four batters April 9 vs. San Diego...Made six appearances in the month of April, allowing one run over six innings pitched before being placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 22 (retroactive to April 18) with right shoulder inflammation … was on a rehab assignment from May 13 until being reinstated May 18 and subsequently optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque...Recalled again May 20 and optioned June 6 … was recalled June 14 and optioned for the final time on June 25 … placed on 7-day disabled Aug. 15, missing remainder of Triple-A season, again, due to shoulder inflammation...Was 2-3 with a 10.34 ERA (15.2 IP, 18 ER) in 16 appearances with Albuquerque.
