The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded infielder Rodolfo Castro to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for left-handed pitcher Bailey Falter, according to Jayson Stark.
Castro was in Triple-A for the Pirates, and was struggling at the plate after being sent down to the minors. While with Pittsburgh this year, he batted .228/.317/.355 in 224 plate appearances. In his career in the majors, he has a .226/.299/.396 line. The Pirates called up Nick Gonzales, and then went with Alika Williams at shortstop when Tucupita Marcano went down for the year. The 24-year-old Castro should continue to get opportunities in the majors, though that would have been difficult in Pittsburgh.
Falter is a 26-year-old with 158 career innings in the majors. In that time, he’s got a 4.56 ERA and a 4.19 xFIP. His fastball works in the low-90s, topping out at 94-95 with a four-seam and sinker variety. While the velocity is low, his pitch angle creates deception. His curveball and slider have both generated swinging strike rates over 10%. The fastball and slider are above-average to plus, while the curve is average and the changeup is below-average to fringe. The Pirates added left-hander Jackson Wolf in the Rich Hill trade earlier, which opened a rotation spot and added a candidate for that same spot. Falter joins Wolf as a candidate to give the Pirates a long-term back of the rotation lefty starter.
