Claudio Custodio

Claudio Custodio

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 155 lb.

• Born October 30, 1990 in Sabana Grande de Boya, Monte Plata Dominican Republic

BR register page

Biographical Information

Claudio Custodio began his career as a middle infielder then became a pitcher, reaching AAA. He also has played for the Dominican national team.

Custodio started his pro career with the 2010 DSL Yankees 1, fielding .964 at 2B and hitting .217/.328/.365. 17 of his 44 hits were for extra-bases, he was 14 for 17 in steals and he scored 46 times in 61 games. He tied Jesus Galindo and Ravel Santana for 6th in the Dominican Summer League in runs despite his low average. In 2011, he came to the US with the GCL Yankees. He hit .325/.433/.414, stole 26 bases while only being caught twice and scored 46 runs in just 39 games, while fielding .908 at SS. The fleet-footed infielder led the Gulf Coast League in runs (2 ahead of Jodaneli Carvajal) and steals (2 more than Alen Hanson), ranked 7th in average (between Isaias Tejeda and Jorge Vega-Rosado) and was 4th in OBP (trailing Brandon Eckerle, Dante Bichette Jr. and Eric Arce. He was not named the GCL All-Star shortstop; that went to his teammate Jose Rosario (they would team up again on the 2019 Dominican team). Baseball America rated him as the GCL's #9 prospect, between Adonys Cardona and Danry Vasquez.

That would mark his peak as a position player, though. With the 2012 Staten Island Yankees, his batting line dropped to .253/.297/.349. He still showed good speed (13 SB, 1 CS) while fielding .915 at short. He became a utility man with the 2013 Charleston RiverDogs (.240/.325/.380, 18 SB, 2 CS in 43 G) and was 0 for 6 in stints with the GCL Yankees 1 and GCL Yankees 2. He split 2014 between Charleston (.321/.345/.453 in 13 G) and the Tampa Yankees (.208/.253/.256). He went 22-for-24 in steals but had nearly as many steals as runs (28) and more than RBI (19). Despite his part-time role, he tied Tyler Wade and Brandon Thomas for 3rd in the Yankees farm chain in swipes. After a slow start with Tampa in 2015 (.162/.230/.235 in 20 G), the Yankees decided to make him a pitcher.

He finished that summer back with the GCL Yankees 2 (1-1, Sv, 6.75 in 16 G). He was much better his second year as a pitcher, going 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA in 19 games for Staten Island and 3-1, 2.70 in 7 games for Charleston. He played in Canada's Intercounty Baseball League in 2017, going 6-1 with a 2.29 ERA for the Barrie Baycats and 1-0 with a 2.29 ERA in the playoffs. He led the league in ERA, tied Emilis Guerrero for the most strikeouts and was 4th in wins. The team won the title.

The Monte Plate native signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2018. He pitched for the Lansing Lugnuts (1-2, 3 Sv, 2.66 in 13 G), Dunedin Blue Jays (1-0, 2 Sv, 3.71 in 11 G) and Buffalo Bisons (4.50 ERA in 5 G). After a brief stint with the Estrellas Orientales that winter, he joined the Dominican national team for the 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier. He relieved Ranfi Casimiro with a 1-0 deficit in the 7th against Brazil and pitched 2 hitless, walkless, scoreless innings with 3 whiffs as the Dominicans rallied to take a 2-1 lead; Juan Sandoval relieved and gave up the tying run, costing Custodio the win. Custodio worked the final two outs of a 3-2 loss to Mexico, replacing Atahualpa Severino. In the finale, he relieved Severino for the final inning of a 17-4 rout of Colombia, giving up his lone hit of the event. He was 3rd in the Qualifier in ERA, after Felipe Natel and Pedro Viola. Of the top 12 in ERA, he led in WHIP. The Dominicans won the event and a spot in the 2019 Pan American Games.