Leandro Castro

Leandro Castro Jean

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
• Born June 15, 1989 in La Romana, La Romana Dominican Republic

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Leandro Castro began his professional career in 2007. He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2013.

He was signed by Phillies scout Wil Tejada and hit .278/.362/.417 for the 2007 DSL Phillies with 24 steals in 33 tries, more triples (5) than doubles (3), 41 runs and 37 RBI in 59 games. He had 10 assists in center field. He tied for 9th in the Dominican Summer League in triples. Coming to the US with the 2008 GCL Phillies, he batted .298/.317/.422.

The speedy outfielder was a New York-Pennsylvania League mid-season All-Star in 2009, hitting .316/.351/.512 with 81 hits and 18 stolen bases in 27 tries for the NYPL's Williamsport Crosscutters and .283/.326/.450 on the year overall (he hit .152 in 22 games for the Lakewood BlueClaws that year in addition to his time with Williamsport). . He was among the NYPL leaders in average (4th, behind J.D. Martinez, Sean Ochinko and Welinton Ramirez), runs (48, tied for second with Justin Henry, behind Derrik Gibson's 54), hits (1st), doubles (19, tied for 5th), homers (7, tied for 5th), RBI (43, tied for second with Rawley Bishop, one behind Yan Gomes), total bases (131, 1st by 11 over J.P. Ramirez), steals (tied for 8th) and slugging (6th, between Deangelo Mack and Ryan Westmoreland). Baseball America named him the league's #16 prospect, between Gibson and Kyle Conley.

With Lakewood for all of 2010, he hit .257/.305/.406 with 9 triples, 78 runs and 81 RBI. He was gunned down in 13 of 35 steal attempts and was 8 for 16 with the bases loaded. He tied five others for second in the South Atlantic League in triples (3 behind Evan Crawford), was 7th in RBI, tied Jiovanni Mier and Jiwan James for second in sacrifice flies (9, one behind Jared Clark) and also had 12 assists. Baseball America said he had the best outfield arm in the league. He was batting .277/.304/.481 with 10 homers after 56 games for the 2011 Clearwater Threshers before a left shin inflammation cut his season short. He was 1 for 5 that winter for the Dominican League's Estrellas Orientales.

He hit .287/.316/.427 with 35 doubles, 66 runs and 71 RBI for the Reading Phillies in 2012, drawing only 17 walks. He hit .326 against lefties, .271 against righties. He tied Robbie Widlansky for second in the Eastern League in doubles (two shy of Chris Colabello), was 10th with 137 hits and tied Quincy Latimore for 8th in RBI. He was second in the Phillies chain in doubles (behind Jim Murphy) and tied for 7th in RBI.

In 2013, his first year at Triple-A, he hit .256/.280/.368 with eight home runs, 55 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 27 tries for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs; he had only 15 walks and made 8 errors. He returned to LeHigh Valley for 2014 and hit .259/.307/.367 with 6 home runs and 48 RBI in 117 games. Let go following the season, he joined the independent New Jersey Jackals, with whom he hit .322/.364/.530 with 13 home runs, 68 RBI and 21 steals in 91 games. Between the independent Laredo Lemurs and Rockland Boulders in 2016, Castro hit .316/.355/.524 with 11 home runs and 36 RBI in 58 games. With the Bravos de Leon in 2017, he hit .256/.311/.462 with 19 home runs, 66 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 104 games.

Sources include 2013 Phillies Media Guide