Gilberto Celestino
Gilberto Celestino Tiburcio
- Bats Right, Throws Left
- Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.
Biographical Information[edit]
Gilberto Celestino played for the Dominican national team before making his major league debut in 2021.
Celestino was signed by Houston Astros scouts Oz Ocampo and Roman Ocumarez in 2015. [1] He began his career with the 2016 DSL Astros Orange and hit .279/.388/.434 in 38 games then moved up to the GCL Astros (.200/.308/.291 in 18 G). He stole 15 bases in 18 tries between the two stops. In 2017, he hit .269/.331/.379 with 10 steals in 12 tries for the Greeneville Astros. His 8 assists tied Warner Lagrange for the Appalachian League lead among outfielders. [2] Baseball America rated him as the #11 prospect in the league, between William Contreras and Ryan Noda. [3]
He opened 2018 with the Corpus Christi Hooks, going 0 for 8 in 3 games. He then moved to the Tri-City Dust Devils and hit .323/.387/.480 in 34 games, swiping bases in all 14 attempts. He was then traded with fellow prospect Jorge Alcala to the Minnesota Twins for Ryan Pressly. He batted .266/.308/.349 in 27 games for the Elizabethton Twins with 8 steals in 10 tries. Baseball America picked him as the top prospect in the New York-Penn League, followed by Travis Swaggerty and Luis Oviedo. [4]
Celestino spent most of 2019 with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, hitting .276/.350/.409 in 117 games. He was briefly with the Fort Myers Miracle (.300/.333/.433 in 8 G). His stock had fallen as he did not crack the Baseball America top-20 prospect list for the Midwest League.
With the Dominican squad for the 2019 Premier 12, he struck out his first at-bat against Mexico's Eduardo Vera. He finished the event 3-for-9 with a dazzling 3-for-3 with a double (against Orlando Yntema) and a triple (off Jair Jurrjens) against the Netherlands. He also made a diving catch with his back to home to rob Roger Bernadina at a crucial juncture. [5]
The 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He began 2021 with the AA Wichita Wind Surge and was at .250/.344/.381 after 21 games, when the Twins called him up after Rob Refsnyder had a concussion. In his MLB debut, he started in center and hit 9th. He struck out against Matt Harvey and lined out against Tyler Wells, then Miguel Sano batted for him.
Sources[edit]
- ↑ 2018 Astros Media Guide, pg. 304
- ↑ 2018 Baseball Almanac, pg. 393
- ↑ ibid., pg. 392
- ↑ 2019 Baseball America, pg. 388
- ↑ 2019 Premier 12
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