Rodolfo Castro #29

Rodolfo Castro...Has played with Toros del Este of the Dominican Winter League each of the the last two offseasons, playing alongside current and former Major Leaguers Alfredo Simon, Jenrry Mejia, Bryan Abreu, Fernando Abad, Josh Reddick, Yasiel Puig, Felix Pie and Juan Graterol...Signed by Pirates scouts Rene Gayo, Juan Mercado and Jose Ortiz.

2022

Split the season between Indianapolis and Pittsburgh...Began the season with Indianapolis, where he was the Opening Day starter at third base...Made 15 starts at third base, six at second base and five at shortstop with Indianapolis prior to being recalled on 5/12...Made season debut with the Pirates as a starter at shortstop on 5/12 vs. Cincinnati and went 0-for-3...Connected for his first home run and recorded his first career four-RBI game on 6/1 at Los Angeles (NL)...Was optioned to Indianapolis on 6/5...Hit safely in 10 straight games from 7/26 through 8/6, going 16-for-44 (.364) with five extra-base hits and a .936 OPS...Was recalled on 8/9...Hit .318 (21-for-66) with two doubles, two triples, four homers and a .966 OPS in 19 games with the Pirates during the month of August; reached base safely in 17 of the 19 games...Reached base safely in 10 straight games from 8/19-30, going 12-for-34 (.353) with three homers, five RBI, a .421 OBP and a 1.068 OPS...Hit a three-run homer while matching his career-high in RBI (four) on 9/14 at Cincinnati...Hit safely in seven straight games from 9/9-14. 

2021

Began season on the Taxi Squad during Pittsburgh’s trip to Chicago and Cincinnati...Was recalled from the alternate site on 4/21...Made Major League debut in game two of the doubleheader on 4/21 at Detroit; started the game at third base and went 0-for-3...Was optioned on 4/27 and was assigned to Double-A Altoona to begin the minor league season...Homered and had a walk-off single in his fourth game on 5/7 vs. Bowie...Hit .365 (35-for-96) with seven doubles, eight homers, 26 RBI and a 1.078 OPS in 24 games during the month of June; his 28 RBI were the six-most in MiLB...Was recalled by the Pirates on 7/6...Walked as a pinch hitter and scored a run on 7/6 vs. Atlanta...Connected off New York’s Nick Tropeano for first Major League home run on 7/9 at Citi Field (pinch-hit homer)...At 22 years/49 days, became the youngest Pirates player to hit a pinch-hit home run since Jose Guillen (21 years/329 days) in 1998...Became the first Bucco since Craig Wilson (5/1/2001) to hit a pinch-hit home run for his first big league hit...Made first career start at second base on 7/10 at New York-NL (game 2)...Homered twice while starting at third base on 7/11 at New York (NL)...Was optioned back to Altoona on 7/17...Was recalled on 7/27; went hitless in three at bats that night vs. Milwaukee...Homered twice on 7/28 vs. Milwaukee; went 5-for-21 in first 9 big league games... Went 14-for-72 (.194) with two doubles, two homers and four RBI in 24 games with the Pirates from 7/27 thru 8/21...Made 19 starts overall at second base and four at third base with the Pirates...Was optioned back to Double-A on 8/23...Hit a three-run homer and tallied four RBI on 8/24 vs. Richmond... Snapped an 0-for-33 streak with two hits on 9/7... Made 44 starts at third base, 24 at second base and four at shortstop while playing with Altoona...Was promoted to Indianapolis on 9/20 and went 1-for-4 with a double in his first Triple-A game on 9/22 at Omaha...Homered twice on 9/23 at Omaha and went deep again on 9/24 at Omaha...Was named the Triple-A East League Player-of-the-Week for the week of 9/20-26; went 8-for-17 with two doubles, three homers, seven RBI and six runs scored in four games...Made four starts at third base, three at shortstop and one at second base while playing with Indianapolis...Produced a .247 (79-for-320) average, 18 doubles, one triple, 15 home runs, 55 RBI and a .300 OBP in 80 minor league games overall.

2020

Spent time at the alternate training site in Altoona...Was a member of the Pirates Taxi Squad for the final week of the regular season.

2019

Appeared in a minor league career-high 118 games while splitting season between Greensboro and Bradenton... Also set career highs in home runs (19), RBI (73) and total bases (190)...Ranked fourth among Pirates minor league players in RBI...Began season with Greensboro and was selected to the South Atlantic League’s mid-season AllStar team...Also participated in the SAL Home Run derby... Homered twice on 4/30 vs. Rome...Homered in four straight games (five homers total) from 4/27 thru 5/1...Captured SAL Player-of-the-Week honors for the week of 4/29 to 5/5 after hitting .409 (9-for-22) with five home runs and 11 RBI in six games...Hit two home runs and had a season-high five RBI on 5/4 at West Virginia...Homered nine times over an 11-game span from 4/22 thru 5/6...Was promoted to Bradenton on 6/19...Recorded his third two-homer game of the season and matched season high with 10 total bases on 6/26 at Jupiter... Made 70 starts at second base, 33 at shortstop and 11 at third base between Greensboro and Bradenton.

2018

Spent entire season with West Virginia, where he made 89 appearances (87 starts) at second base and 12 appearances (11 starts) at shortstop...Ranked second on the team in home runs behind Oneil Cruz (14)...Ranked third in RBI and total bases (152).

2017

Spent entire season with the GCL Pirates...Led the Gulf Coast League in total bases (90)...Tied for first in extra-base hits (22) and ranked fourth in slugging percentage... Was named to the GCL post-season All-Star team...Made 19 appearances at shortstop, 17 at third base and 15 at second base...Had career-high four hits on 7/20 at the GCL Blue Jays...Was hitting .342 following the action on 7/24... Connected for his first two home runs of the season on 8/1 against the GCL Yankees...Hit .366 (15-for-41) against lefthanded pitchers.

2016

Spent first professional season with the DSL Pirates, where he made 52 appearances (50 starts) at shortstop and one appearance (1.2 innings) at third base...Hit safely in each of his first eight games, going 15-for-29 (.517) with five multi-hit efforts...Was named to the Dominican Summer League mid-season All-Star team..Hit .328 (21-for-64) in June, .182 (12-for-66) in July and .306 (19-for-62) in August...Connected for his first pro home run on 6/30...Produced a .309 average against RHP and a .170 average against LHP.