South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 54: Moisés Castillo

Moisés Castillo

Shortstop
6´1´´
200 pounds
Age: 23
2022 High Level Birmingham (Double-A)
Age relative to high level -2.1 years
SSS rank among all shortstops in the system 7
Overall 2022 regular season stats 110 games ⚾️ 3 HR ⚾️ 45 RBI ⚾️ .254/.353/.320 ⚾️ 8-of-11 (72.7%) SB ⚾️ 59 BB ⚾️ 83 K

The White Sox snagged Moisés Castillo, somewhat curiously, in December 2021’s minor league Rule 5 draft. Castillo was signed as an international free agent back in 2015 by the St. Louis Cardinals, signed for $140,000 out of the Dominican Republic. Like other longtime MiLB veterans drafted young (think Micker Adolfo, in the White Sox organization), Castilo reached minors free agency at the young age of 22.

Problem is, Castillo has a profile of a consummate org infielder — doesn’t do anything particularly well, and doesn’t flash particularly great speed, on-base or power. A career a lifetime .239/.329/.327 hitter over 294 pro games? I mean, we had Zach Remillards at home, why shop for more?

Well, that all changed — or at least changed a bit — in the White Sox organization in 2022. Castillo started the year in Winston-Salem and proved adept enough to merit a promotion to Birmingham well ahead of the whole Project Birmingham hype. And then, despite a heavy load of games (110), Castillo was assigned to the Arizona Fall League.

Here’s where things get a little nutty. Castillo truly hadn’t distinguished himself in any particular way, despite the Double-A promotion. You could argue that his assignment to the Glendale Desert Dogs was as we’ve seen in the past: Well, we have to send five guys, how about ... Moisés?

But Moisés wasn’t having it.

The clear White Sox winner in the AFL, or prospect who boosted his standing, was Castillo. He did not play the final two weeks, but in his 14 games before then he had an OPS of more than .900 and earned an appearance in the Fall Star Game. A career .661 OPSer took this smallest of sample sizes and crushed it under the bright lights of Arizona, to the tune of a .939 OPS. That’s the kind of thing that’s going to get you noticed.

Castillo’s Baseball Cube player ratings:
Durability 76
Contact 62
Runs 55
Speed 49
Hitting 49
RBIs 32
Power 29
XBH 26
Team Winning Percentage .451

So, yeah, the Cube ratings don’t like Castillo much at all. But then, there wasn’t much to like before October 2022.

A sign of how far Castillo has come? Look above; Castillo was part of Photo Day at Camelback Ranch. That all but assures he will start at Triple-A Charlotte this season. That said, he is the seventh SS prospect in our rankings, so Castillo still has a long way to go.

2023 South Side Sox Top 102 White Sox Prospects

54. Moisés Castillo, SS
55. Victor Quezada, 3B
56. Edgar Navarro, RHRP
57. Craig Dedelow, RF
58. Darío Borrero, 1B
59. Michael Turner, C
60. Tyler Osik, 1B
61. Haylen Green, LHRP
62. Mark McLaughlin, RHRP
63. Terrell Tatum, LF
64. Shawn Goosenberg, 2B
65. Randel Mondesí, LF
66. Emerson Talavera, RHRP
67. Declan Cronin, RHRP
68. Fraser Ellard, LHRP
69. Colby Smelley, C
70. Ethan Hammerberg, RHRP
71. Lincoln Henzman, RHRP
72. Vince Vannelle, RHRP
73. Brooks Baldwin, 3B-2B
74. James Beard, CF
75. Gabriel Rodríguez, RHSP
76. Ronny Hernandez, C
77. Troy Claunch, C
78. Brooks Gosswein, LHSP
79. Tim Elko, 1B
80. Yoelvín Silven, RHRP
81. Trey Jeans, LHRP
82. Jerry Burke, RHSP
83. Carlos Jiménez, 1B
84. Mason Adams, RHSP
85. Frankeli Arias, LHSP
86. Ernesto Jaquez, RHSP
87. Laz Rivera, 3B
88. Xavier Fernández, C
89. Álvaro Agüero, CF
90. Ben Norman, RF
91. Erick Bello, RHRP
92. Adisyn Coffey, RHRP
93. Arnold Prado, RF
94. Alsander Womack, 2B
95. Johan Domínguez, RHSP
96. Evan Skoug, C
97. Noah Owen, RHSP
98. Javier Mora, 2B
99. Will Kincanon, RHRP
100. Yohemy Nolasco, RHSP
101. Billy Seidl, RHRP
102. José Rodulfo, RHRP