Willi Castro

Willi Rafael Castro Capellan

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 205 lb.

• Debut August 24, 2019

• Born April 24, 1997 in Rio Piedras P.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

Shortstop Willi Castro was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent on July 2, 2013. Although born in Puerto Rico, he grew up in the Dominican Republic, which made him exempt from the amateur draft. He began playing with the AZL Indians in 2014 and was in the Indians organization until 2018, when he first played in AA with the Akron Rubber Ducks of the Eastern League. On July 31, 2018, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for outfielder Leonys Martin and pitcher Kyle Dowdy. He started the 2019 season with the AAA Toledo Mud Hens of the International League, where he hit .301 with 28 doubles, 11 homers, 75 runs scored and 62 RBI in 119 games. On August 24th, he was called up to Detroit and made his debut that day, going 2 for 4 with a double in an 8-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins. In 30 games, he hit .230.

He took a major step forward in 2020 as he hit .349 with 6 homers and 24 RBIs in 36 games for the Tigers, good for an an OPS of .932 and an OPS+ of 150. He shared the shortstop job with Niko Goodrum and also appeared a few times at third base. As a result, he was named the shortstop on the 2020 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

Notable Achievements

• 2020 Topps All-Star Rookie Team

Related Sites

• Willi Castro on mlb.com