Diamondbacks Clubhouse Reaction to Adrian Del Castillo's Walkoff Homer

The rookie catcher's first career homer could not have come in a bigger moment.

Aug 9, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Adrian Del Castillo (25) hits a walk off solo home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the ninth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports / Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

When Adrian Del Castillo stepped to the plate in a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the ninth, destiny beckoned. The story book ending that was about to occur was barely something the 38,000 in attendance and those watching at home had time to contemplate.

And then it happened on the very first pitch, a 97 MPH fastball over the heart of the plate from Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman. Del Castillo was ready, and made a beautiful, powerful swing, launching the ball high and deep for the game winning homer.

ADRIAN. DEL. CASTILLO!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/tuovG22FH9

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 10, 2024

When Del Castillo was asked in the locker room media scrum if he was looking for a fastball, teammate Geraldo Perdomo piped up from the side before Castillo could answer. "I told him!". Perdomo exclaimed. Castillo concurred. "Yeah, Perdomo told me he throws a lot of fastballs, so just looking for a fastball over the plate and I got a good swing on it"

Del Castillo knew it was gone the moment he hit it. "I didn't feel it off the bat, so that's when you know".

Manager Torey Lovullo came into the press room, clearly riding an emotional high. The big moment for Castillo had been set up by a gem of an outing by Ryne Nelson. The young right-hander threw seven and a third dominant innings, striking out nine batters. He left the game with a man on base however, and that runner later scored on an RBI double to tie it up.

"You couldn't have asked for any greater moment for a young player. I get so excited for the kids that just come up from player development and I felt like I was 18 years old again for a few minutes.......I couldn't help but get caught up in the emotion of it"

Right after the walk off Lovullo told Castillo "Oh my God, that was an unbelievable baseball moment, I'm so proud of you. Lets effin go!, something like that....I can't remember, I was out of my mind too"

Lovullo didn't hesitate to put the young slugging catcher into the middle of the order, batting him fifth. That confidence was born out of the reports that came out of the system and conversations with his manager in Reno, Blake Lalli. "He told me it's just a really solid at bat. He's engaged, he doesn't give any at bats away.

Describing his own comfort level, Del Castillo was refreshingly candid. "It's still kind of nerve wracking, I'll be honest with you, but once that pitch clark starts going down I'm there, I'm focused, I don't really hear anything."

Veteran teammate Joc Pederson, who also homered in the game, his 19th of the year, had high praise for his newest teammate. "It's incredible, a pure swing, and to be able to come up and execute....I mean two hits off Wheeler, and Hoffman is an All Star reliever, those aren't easy guys to put barrels on it, It's very impressive."

Del Castillo had an enormous season for the Reno Aces, batting .319 with 24 homers and 70 RBI prior to his call up this week to replace the injured Gabriel Moreno. He hit an RBI double in his very first major league at bat in Cleveland and is now 4-7, with a double, a homer, and three RBI in his first two games.

Equally impressive to his hitting has been his receiving and game calling behind the plate. Nelson was extremely comfortable working with the rookie receiver, despite having never worked with him before.

"Adrian did a super good job behind the dish today. We were just on the same page pretty much the whole night. I probably shook just a handful of times and he was doing a really good job of working at bats with me. It felt like we were on the same page, if I shook once, the next pitch was what I was thinking. It was super impressive to see the way he worked back there."

Veteran Eduardo Rodriguez, who was caught by Castillo on Wednesday, had similar high praise for Castillo's work behind the plate and ability to get on the same page.

"“He followed my lead, I followed his sometimes," said Rodríguez, "I like the way he was catching, I like the way he was calling the pitch, the way he was positioning himself for the pitches."

The future is bright for Del Castillo and his career could not have gotten off to a better start. He's been thrust into the middle of a pennant race, taking over for a Gold Glove catcher who helped take his team to the World Series last year. But clearly the moment is not too big for him, at least not so far.