2:30pm: The Diamondbacks have officially announced these moves and others. Del Castillo has been selected and Moreno has been placed on the IL with a strained left adductor. They also reinstated left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez from the 60-day IL, a move that was reported last week. To activate Rodriguez, the club optioned right-hander Humberto Castellanos and transferred righty Bryce Jarvis to the 60-day IL. It was also reported last week that Jarvis is unlikely to return this year due to his sprained right elbow.
12:40pm: The Diamondbacks are going to place catcher Gabriel Moreno on the 10-day injured list with a groin injury, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM on X. Fellow backstop Adrian Del Castillo will have his contract selected to take Moreno’s place on the roster. The Snakes already had a 40-man vacancy so no further moves will be required.
Moreno came up limping during yesterday’s game while trying to run out a ground ball. He was removed from the contest with what the team described as a strained left groin. It’s still unclear how long he is expected to be out of action but it’s a rough blow for the Diamondbacks regardless. Moreno is slashing .262/.344/.385 this year for a 107 wRC+ with strong defensive grades as well. FanGraphs considers him to have been worth 2.4 wins above replacement in 86 games.
It’s the second IL stint of the year for Moreno, who also missed some time at the end of June due to a sprained left thumb. Prior to that, he had been sharing the catching duties with Tucker Barnhart, with José Herrera called up to pair with Barnhart in Moreno’s absence. Once Moreno was ready to return in early July, the club decided to keep Herrera around, with Barnhart designated for assignment and eventually released.
That left the Diamondbacks with Moreno and Herrera as the only two backstops on the 40-man roster. Now that Moreno is heading to the IL again, they need to reach into their non-roster depth, which gets Del Castillo up to the majors for the first time.
Now 24 years old, Del Castillo was selected with a competitive balance pick in 2021, going 67th overall in that year’s draft. Baseball America ranked him #29 in Arizona’s system coming into this year but he has launched himself up to #16 in their most recent update. He was #36 at FanGraphs earlier in the year.
BA considers him subpar defensively but strong at the plate, which has shown up at times during his minor league career. That’s especially true here in 2024, which is likely why he earned such a notable bump in the BA rankings. In 100 Triple-A games this year, he has 24 home runs, an 11.5% walk rate and a 16.8% strikeout rate. His .319/.403/.608 batting line translates into a 143 wRC+ even in the hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League.
If he can bring even a small portion of that production up to the big leagues with him, it will go a long way towards compensating for the loss of Moreno. Herrera has hit just .229/.308/.286 this year for a 72 wRC+ with his glovework graded as near league average. Perhaps Del Castillo can outperform him at the plate but even top prospects can struggle when first exposed to the majors. The club will also have to consider that Herrera has a head start on Del Castillo in terms of building relationships with the pitching staff.
The Snakes are currently 61-52 and essentially in a three-way tie for the National League Wild Card spots with Atlanta and San Diego. Atlanta is 60-51 and percentage points ahead of the two other clubs, who are each 61-52. The Mets are just 1.5 games back of that group and five other clubs are just behind New York. With that crowded playoff race, the importance of every game will be magnified going forward. The catching situation will likely evolve in the coming weeks, depending on how much time Moreno needs to miss and how Del Castillo performs in his first taste of the majors. Herrera is in his final option year and will be out of options in 2025.
I been waiting. Let’s see! no one can replace moreno but let’s hope he plays defense also. that’s more my concern
We can only hope Moreno needs the minimum, but with a groin injury…not happy knowing the Diamondbacks are left with Herrera and Del Castillo the coming weeks…
so true man! if it’s 3 weeks and we can play well until September then we can get him and walker. But of its 6 weeks we need to pray lol
This is kinda bittersweet. I hate to see Moreno on the IL, but I’m excited that Del Castillo is getting his shot. I’m looking forward to watching him play at Chase.
About time his bat has been nothing short of insane at triple A
:))
I know there are several who have advocated that Del Castillo be called up because of his bat. Over the past several years, Dbacks fane have pushed to get the youngsters up to the majors to see what we have, But this year is an entirely different situation. Dbacks are trying to get back to the WS and win it this year. So, this is not the time to “give the kids a chance”. If not for Moreno’s injury, I was opposed to calling up Del Castillo, but now it’s the only real option the Dbacks have. I don’t hope he will succeed, I insist that he have a short leash.
“I don’t hope he will succeed…..”
Huh?
suffer
Sorry. That was phrased awkwardly. In other words, I don’t think the Dbacks have the luxury in a pennant race to coddle a young player and give him lots of opportunities to make mistakes as he learns how to be a big leaguer. If he struggles, send him back down immediately and get someone who won’t drag the team down during a pennant race. Like I said, the Dbacks are in a very different situation than a few years ago.
Wrong Jose Herrera tagged in the article.
Del Castillo has shown big PCL power, lets see if it translates at the big league level. Nice to finally see ERod come off the shelf
Exactly. I expect Herrera to get virtually full time work behind the plate, with Del Castillo getting a few pinch hit opportunities and an occasional spot start to rest Herrera.
If, Moreno comes back during the playoffs, that’s the best case scenario.
The bigger news is that Rodriguez starts today’s game. Almost like picking up an impact starter at the trade deadline!
And more big news, Merrill Kelly has his first rehab start for Hillsboro A+ tonight. So he is getting very close to a return. That will finally bring the Dbacks starting rotation together this season. Just in time for Rodriguez and Kelly to ramp up for a Playoff run to the WS.