Mike Hazen Clarifies Adrian Del Castillo's Role Next Season

Speaking at the MLB Winter Meetings, the General Manager addressed the possibility of a position change.

Aug 28, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; New York Mets outfielder Starling Marte (6) beats the tag of Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Adrian Del Castillo (25) to score a run during the sixth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Catcher Adrian Del Castillo burst on the scene for the Arizona Diamondbacks as a rookie call-up last year and made an immediate impact with the bat. It was an exciting time, in which he impacted several games immediately.

That included an RBI double in his first at-bat, and a walk-off homer against the Phillies in just his second game. He followed that up with two games in Florida in which he homered twice and drove in nine runs. He tallied 14 RBI in his first nine games while posting a 1.072 OPS.

Of course that scorching pace at the plate was not sustainable. But he ended the year with a .313/.368/.525 slash line with four homers and 19 RBI in 25 games. There was no question he came with an impact bat.

The defensive side of things was considerably less impressive. He was charged with three errors and caught just two of 29 base stealers. Other aspects of his game such as blocking and framing still needed work as well.

Over the offseason the question has come up whether or not Del Castillo should be moved off catcher. With the departure of free agents Christian Walker and Joc Pederson, it's been suggested by some that he could move to first base, or become the full time DH.

I had a chance to to ask Mike Hazen at the winter meetings in Dallas if they have thought about using him elsewhere.

"Thought about it? Yes. Are we planning on doing it? No," Hazen said.

On follow-up, we asked if he was considering using him as a DH.

"Probably not. I mean, could he come up if something happened and end up DHing? Yes. Am I trying to build a team with him as a potential DH candidate? No."

So that spells things out pretty clearly with regards to Adrian Del Castillo. For the time being at least, the team has no plans to move him off catcher.

One last point of note is that Del Castillo is still behind Gabriel Moreno and Jose Herrera on the depth chart, since the use of the words "could he come up." Remember, Del Castillo ended the year with the Reno Aces. Of course he could win the backup role out of spring training, but as of now, he's third on the depth chart.