Detroit Tigers: Harold Castro the single artist continues to deliver

The Detroit Tigers had a ten-year anniversary that happened on March 15 that went unnoticed. It was on that day that international free-agent signing Harold Castro was signed in 2011 for just $29,000.

Of course, no one really keeps track of those types of things as this information is available at a moment’s notice but it is quite easy to dismiss Harold Castro if you look at the advance numbers:

• Career strikeout rate 22.7%
• Career walk rate 3.6%
• Career EV of 87MPH (MLB average is 88.6)
• ISO of .079 (MLB average is .171)
• 31.2% hard-hit contact percentage (MLB average is 39.2%)

Even when he was ranked 28th on Baseball America’s Top Detroit Tigers prospect list in 2015, his scouting report seemed rather underwhelming. ($)

“He hits to all fields and uses his hands well at the plate, flicking the ball to the opposite field on pitches on the outer third. Castro hit .299 in Lakeland but without a trace of secondary skills. He has an aggressive approach and minimal power. He needs to get stronger to deliver more impact and take a more selective approach to improve his on-base ability. Castro is athletic and runs above-average, but he has a fringy arm and below-average defense at second base.”

With all this being said, here is a simple phrase that former professional wrestler and actor Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson once made famous enough for him to collaborate with Wyclef Jean about the advanced data.

“It doesn’t matter!”

The Detroit Tigers Singles Master.

Harold Castro has continued to provide Tigers fans with some clutch moments on this road trip, including his 3-for-4 performance last night that helped the Tigers sweep in Seattle for the first time since 2006 and he has nine hits in his last 14 at-bats.

Manager A.J Hinch loves position versatility and so far this season, Harold has played the following:

1B-36.2 innings

2B-49 innings

3B-22 innings

SS-21 innings

LF-7 innings

CF-7 innings

When Kansas City was in town last weekend, Castro made a great play here at third.

He provided the game-winning hit in the extra-innings win over the Cubs and with quiet confidence said after the game, “Something good was going to happen to me” after struggling earlier in the game. 

The baseball season is a long one and often, even myself, get into a habit of being negative but thanks to the play of Harold Castro, among the starting pitching and the contributions from other unexpected sources, the Detroit Tigers are playing well and seem to be coming together as of late.

Role players come in all shapes and sizes and Castro continues to be the consummate professional singles master.