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Overview
Position: C
Height: 5’11″
Weight: 210 pounds
School: Miami
Adrian Del Castillo is a catcher from Miami, Florida and plays for his hometown Miami Hurricanes. Del Castillo is one of the top-ranked position players and catchers in the 2021 MLB Draft.
Del Castillo has had a great collegiate career with the Hurricanes and is expected to be top draft pick in this upcoming draft. The Miami catcher is known for what he can do at the plate as he’s always been a top collegiate hitter since he enrolled at Miami.
During his collegiate career, Adrian Del Castillo is a career .326 hitter with excellent bat-to-ball skills and possess some power. Del Castillo might have one of the best hit tools in his draft class as he has a very low strikeout rate. During the 2021 season, he is slashing .303/.408/.462 with 36 hits, eight doubles, three home runs, 25 RBIs, seventeen walks and a .871 OPS.
Adrian Del Castillo with a 3-run HR off a lefty @CanesBaseball up 9-1. Del Castillo projects as a first round pic.twitter.com/nInlQSmwnh
— Man On Second Baseball (@ManOn2nd) March 10, 2021
On MLB Pipeline, Adrian Del Castillo is the 13th-ranked draft prospect and the second ranked catcher in the 2021 draft class only behind Louisville’s Henry Davis. On Prospects Live, Del Castillo is the seventh-ranked prospect and #1 catcher in the 2021 draft class.
Strengths
- Polished hitter
- Drives ball to all fields
- Has walked more than struck out in collegiate career
- Above average power
- High baseball IQ
- Only a 9.6 K%
- Hits well against elite competition
Weaknesses
- Might not be catcher at MLB level
- Below average runner
- Power numbers have gone down in 2021
Pro Comparison: Christian Vázquez
Projection: Top 20 draft pick
Bottom Line
There might not be another team in the MLB that needs a catcher more than the Miami Marlins. The Fish have a huge need for catcher and one of the top catchers in this draft class is right in their backyard.
Adrian Del Castillo definitely projects to be a very sound hitter at the MLB level but his biggest question is if he’ll be able to catch at the next level. Most scouts believe that Del Castillo is one of the best pure hitters in the draft but some aren’t sold on his defensive tools.
There’s a chance that Del Castillo won’t even be on the board for the Marlins to consider—perhaps another MLB scouting department has conviction about him sticking at catcher and selects him before pick No. 16. All I know is that the Marlins need to address their catching issues in the 2021 MLB Draft, preferably in the early rounds. They should be evaluating this local 21-year-old thoroughly.