The Arizona Diamondbacks named catcher Adrian Del Castillo their minor league player of the year and right-hander Yilber Diaz their minor league pitcher of the year for 2024.
Both Del Castillo and Diaz spent most of their seasons in the upper minors but impacted the big league club when injuries struck its regulars.
Del Castillo played 25 MLB games and made a name for himself early while starter Gabriel Moreno was on the injured list with an adductor strain. His first career home run was a walk-off against the Philadelphia Phillies with nearly 38,000 fans in attendance. He drove in 14 runs in his first nine games, four on a grand slam in his hometown of Miami.
The 25-year-old finished his first cup of coffee with a batting line of .313/.368/.525 with four homers, 19 RBIs and 28 strikeouts.
ADRIAN. DEL. CASTILLO!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/tuovG22FH9
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 10, 2024
Adrian Del Castillo, MVP
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In the minor leagues, Del Castillo won the 2024 Pacific Coast League MVP for Triple-A Reno. He produced a 1.002 OPS with 26 home runs and 36 doubles for the Aces. He led the PCL in OPS, extra-base hits (65) and slugging (.603).
The Diamondbacks have their franchise catcher in the 24-year-old Moreno for the foreseeable future. His backups this season were Tucker Barnhart, Jose Herrera and Del Castillo.
Del Castillo provides a bat-first, left-handed option to foil the right-handed Moreno going forward. The club was bullish on Del Castillo’s defensive improvements with receiving and handling the pitching staff, but there is much room to grow for a catcher with limited MLB experience.
“Where Adrian sits today, based on what we saw in spring training, I would argue he’s come as far as as we’ve seen any player,” D-backs bench coach Jeff Banister said on Sept. 15.
The D-backs optioned Del Castillo in favor of Jose Herrera once Moreno returned, but Del Castillo set himself up to be in the mix for the backup role come spring training.
Yilber Diaz honored
Diaz started the year in Double-A Amarillo, climbed to Reno by June and made his MLB debut a month later.
The 24-year-old made four starts before getting sent back down due to the impending returns of Eduardo Rodriguez and Merrill Kelly from the injured list, but he pitched out of the bullpen for the Diamondbacks down the stretch.
The right-hander finished his first major league season with 28.1 innings, a 3.81 ERA, 19 strikeouts and 12 walks.
In the minors, Diaz threw 104.1 innings with a 3.80 ERA, striking out 140 batters with 47 walks.
Diaz is the highest-ranked pitching prospect in the system by MLB Pipeline with a power fastball in the mid-to-upper 90s mph, a plus slider and a curveball he has been working to improve.
Yilber Diaz, Nasty Sliders. 😨
4th and 5th Ks. pic.twitter.com/VAnLk1yy7n
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 9, 2024
The Diamondbacks could very well have the same-looking rotation going into next season, but every year teams need their starting pitching depth to build out innings and keep them afloat. Where Diaz fits into the mix will be another spring training question going into February.