Diamondbacks Announce Minor League Players of the Year

The D-backs announced their 2024 Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year and they're no surprises

Aug 25, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Adrian Del Castillo (25) celebrates scoring a run against the Boston Red Sox during the fifth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced a slew of minor league awards on Thursday including announcing their Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year.

It should be no surprise who won Player of the Year for their Minor League system, just the player who came up to the D-backs and continued to hit well while stepping into a vital place behind the plate.

That player is catcher Adrian Del Castillo who played his entire time in the minor leagues this year with the Reno Aces.

Del Castillo won Pacific Coast League MVP, was named to the All-MiLB team, a Triple-A All-Star among numerous other accolades this year thus he truly had a standout and breakout year. GM Mike Hazen even confirmed every team he talked to asked about Del Castillo at the MLB Trade Deadline.

He hit .312 with a 1.002 OPS with 36 doubles, 3 triples, 26 home runs, 75 RBI, 55 walks and
90 runs in 105 games, the majority of which came from behind the plate.

Among the Minors, Del Castillo was first in slugging percentage (.603), OPS, and top-ten in numerous other categories.

In the Majors, Del Castillo hit .313 with a .893 OPS with 5 doubles, 4 homers, 19 RBI, 7 walks, 1 stolen base and 12 runs scored. That was over 25 games.

Meanwhile, the team's Pitcher of the Year is no surprise either as it's the pitcher who established himself as a top-five or so prospect for the D-backs and climbed three levels from Double-A to the Majors pitching in critical games for Arizona.

That pitcher is right-handed starter Yilber Diaz. Diaz, over Triple-A and Double-A, went 6-9 but recorded a 3.80 ERA over 104.1 innings with opponents hitting just .221 despite both ballparks and leagues being extremely hitter-friendly.

He displayed his impressive command and elite strikeout ability with allowing just 47 walks and getting 140 strikeouts. That was an average of 12.08 strikeouts per 9.0 innings. In one game, he struck out 13 batters.

Over seven games and four starts with the Arizona Diamondbacks, he went 1-1 with a 3.81 ERA and 19 strikeouts. That was over 28.1 innings.

Both of these players are shaping up to be crucial parts of the Diamondbacks roster for years to come.