Fastball

Minnesota Twins' Player Goes Viral After Falling Down During Swing-and-Miss

This swing attempt by Minnesota Twins' player Willi Castro is going to be shown on baseball bloopers for years to come.

Brady Farkas

Minnesota Twins shortstop Willi Castro (50) hits a double against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on June 21.
Minnesota Twins shortstop Willi Castro (50) hits a double against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on June 21. / Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

The Minnesota Twins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-3 on Wednesday night, which is great news for Twins' player Willi Castro.

Why? Because the Twins victory means people won't be talking quite as much about the ridiculous swing that Castro put on a pitch in the first inning of the game.

Castro went viral on social media for this swing-and-miss against a Ryne Nelson changeup. @CodifyBaseball posted the video of it:

maybe the greatest changeup in baseball history

Basketball players who fall down while playing defense often get the brunt of laughter from fans, but that's the good stuff right there. However, Castro got the last laugh as he went 2-for-4 for the night with two RBI. He's now hitting .274 this season with an .814 OPS and has played well with Edouard Julien being sent back down to Triple-A.

The 27-year-old is in his sixth big league season with the Detroit Tigers and Twins. He's been with Minnesota since 2023 and is a lifetime .253 hitter. This season, he's got seven homers and 26 RBI.

Even though Nelson made him look silly on that pitch, it wasn't a great performance by him. The righty went 3.2 innings, allowing 10 hits and six earned runs. He had three strikeouts and is now 5-6 on the year.

Minnesota is now 44-36 on the year and occupies the second wild card spot in the American League. They are in second place in the American League Central.

Minnesota and Arizona will finish out their series on Thursday afternoon at 3:40 p.m. ET.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our Fastball on FanNation coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

Published
Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

Home/News