Rubén Castro (minors03)

Rubén J. Castro

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 205 lb.

• High School Puerto Rico Baseball Academy

• Born July 10, 1996 in Humacao Puerto Rico

BR register page

Biographical Information

Rubén Castro has played in the minors and for the Puerto Rican national team.

The Houston Astros took him in the 19th round of the 2014 amateur draft; the scout was Joey Sola. He hit .241/.349/.259 for the GCL Astros that summer, then split '15 between the GCL Astros (10 for 38, 6 BB, 4 SB, R, 3 RBI) and Lancaster JetHawks (9 for 49, 3 2B, 2 BB, 4 R, 3 RBI). He made his Puerto Rican Winter League debut for the Cangrejeros de Santurce that winter, going 1 for 1 with a run. In the summer of 2016, he hit .293/.324/.354 in 27 games for the Greeneville Astros, while throwing out 42% of those who tried to steal.

In 2017, he was with Greeneville (.275/.345/.368 in 21 G) and the Tri-City ValleyCats (2 for 4, R). He was excellent in limited time that winter, going 5 for 10 with a double, walk, two runs and a RBI while backing up Roberto Peña and A.J. Jimenez. He hit .299/.395/.381 in 38 games for the 2018 Quad City River Bandits and threw out 43%, backing up Michael Papierski. He was 0 for 5 with a RBI in the winter of 2018-2019. He split 2019 between Quad Cities (.255/.394/.314 in 17 G) and the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (.254/.383/.358 in 25 G). He was 0 for 10 with 4 walks, a hit-by-pitch and 3 runs for Santurce in 2019-2020. The 2020 minor league season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic; during that period, he was let go by Houston.

Castro was one of four catchers on Puerto Rico's team for the Americas Olympic Qualifier along with Michael Arroyo, Yomar Cruz and Kelvin Pérez. With so many options, playing time was limited. Down 5-2 in the 9th against the Dominican Republic with one aboard, he batted for Pérez and singled off Jairo Asencio to put the potential tying run at the plate but Puerto Rico did not score. His other game, he batted for Arroyo in the bottom of the 10th against Nicaragua with two on, one out and a 7-5 deficit. Facing Jorge Bucardo, he grounded in Rey Navarro but Puerto Rico again fell short.

That summer, he signed with Les Capitales de Québec and hit .325/.419/.468. He showed good speed for a catcher, swiping 29 bases in 37 tries and scoring 58 runs in 86 games. He was among the Frontier League leaders in average (5th, between L.P. Pelletier and Bralin Jackson), steals (10th) and OBP (between Nick Ward and Alec Craig). He did not make the All-Star team at catcher, an honor that went to teammate Jeffry Parra. His boom-or-bust stints in Puerto Rico continued as he was 5-for-11 with a double, homer, walk, four runs and four RBI for Santurce in 2021-2022.