Back in December, the Minnesota Twins selected Eiberson Castellano with the 9th pick in the Rule 5 Draft from the Philadelphia Phillies. Castellano had just wrapped up somewhat of a breakout season in the minors between High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading.
The 23-year-old righty from Venezuela held a strong strikeout rate while limiting walks for the first time in his professional career. Between both levels, Castellano had an 11.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9, both representing career bests. Add a 3.99 ERA in 103.2 IP, and you can see why he won the Paul Owens Award (given to the top MiLB players in the Phillies system) and piqued the Twins’ interest.
By selecting Castellano in the Rule 5 Draft, the Twins essentially purchased his contract rights from the Phillies for $100,000. That came with one stipulation: Castellano would have to break camp with the Twins and spend the entire season on the major league roster.
Phillies Welcome Back Castellano
He saw plenty of action in the Cactus League with the Twins. Fortunately for the Phillies, the results were not impressive. In 7 Spring Training games, Castellano allowed 9 ER, 10 walks, and 2 homers. Over 10.2 innings pitched, that translated to a 7.59 ERA with an 8.4 BB/9. The lone bright spot was his 13 strikeouts.
The performance led the Twins to leave Castellano off their MLB roster. After clearing waivers, the Twins had to offer Castellano back to the Phillies for $50,000 as per Rule 5 Draft rules. He’ll return to a minor league system in which he was ranked 13th by MLB.com before being selected.
Eiberson Castellano will most likely join a strong rotation in Double-A Reading with the likes of Moisés Chace and Jean Cabrera.
Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Brad Penner
