Gemini Direct Diego A. Castillo

July 26: Castillo has cleared waivers and accepted a permanent assignment to Triple-A St. Paul, according to Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com on X.

July 24: The Twins announced Wednesday that they have designated an infielder Diego Castillo for allocation and option right-handed Ronny Henriquez to Triple-A St. Paul. Their spots on the roster go to relievers Brock Stewartwho has been activated from the 60-day injured list, and right David Partywho has been recalled from St. Paul.

Castillo, 26, has appeared in four games with the Twins, going 2-for-6 with a double, two walks and a strikeout in eight plate appearances. He’s also had a nice season in the minors, slashing a combined .274/.382/.403 in 296 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for Baltimore and Minnesota. That marks the continuation of a long streak of OBP-driven production in the upper minors. Castillo has played in parts of four Triple-A seasons, and while he doesn’t have much power, he’s a .290/.402/.406 hitter in 1,073 Triple-A plate appearances. He primarily plays shortstop (3,906 innings), but also has 1,922 innings at second base, 619 innings at third base, 535 innings in left field, 224 innings in right field and 66 innings at first base.

Despite that versatility and a strong Triple-A track record, Castillo hasn’t gotten much major-league playing time. He made his debut with the Pirates in 2022 and has a career-high 283 plate appearances, but he’s hit just .206/.251/.382. The D-backs have given him one plate appearance in the majors in 2023, while the Twins have given him just eight.

There’s certainly an argument to be made that Castillo deserves a longer look somewhere, but a Twins organization that’s deeper in the infield than anywhere else on the field would likely never get that chance. Even with each of Royce Lewis, Carlos Correa, Jose Miranda, Kyle Boer And Alex Kirilloff Minnesota is on the injured list Carlos Santana at first base, Edouard Julien at second base, All-Star Willi Castro at short stop and top prospect Brooks Lee at third base. Several of the injured Twins will also return sooner rather than later. Lewis began a rehab assignment in Triple-A last night. Miranda will follow today.

Minnesota will either trade Castillo or place him on an outright waiver within the next five days. Waivers themselves can take another 48 hours. Castillo will know the outcome of his DFA within the next week.

As for Stewart, his return will be a major boon to the Twins’ bullpen. The former Dodgers prospect has proven to be an exceptional find on a minor league pact. He’s missed the past two seasons with injury, but Stewart has picked up significant velocity since his rotation days in the Dodgers’ system and has been a bullpen giant in Minnesota when healthy. He’s thrown 41 innings since 2023 and sports a remarkable 0.66 ERA with a massive 34.8% strikeout rate compared to a 10.6% walk rate.

Stewart will slide right into a late-innings, high-leverage mix, including Johan Duran, Griffin Jax And Jorge Alcala. Right Justin Topa also went on a rehab assignment yesterday, which could provide another potential boost in the near future. He has been out all season with a knee injury, but posted a 2.61 ERA, 21.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 56.7% ground-ball rate in 69 innings for the Mariners last season. The Twins added Topa in the offseason trade that Jorge Polanco to Seattle.