Willi Castro

Willi Rafael Castro Capellan

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 205 lb.

• Debut August 24, 2019

• Born April 24, 1997 in Rio Piedras P.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

Shortstop Willi Castro was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent on July 2, 2013. Although born in Puerto Rico, he grew up in the Dominican Republic, which made him exempt from the amateur draft. He began playing with the AZL Indians in 2014 and was in the Indians organization until 2018, when he first played in AA with the Akron Rubber Ducks of the Eastern League. On July 31, 2018, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for outfielder Leonys Martin and pitcher Kyle Dowdy. He started the 2019 season with the AAA Toledo Mud Hens of the International League, where he hit .301 with 28 doubles, 11 homers, 75 runs scored and 62 RBI in 119 games. On August 24th, he was called up to Detroit and made his debut that day, going 2 for 4 with a double in an 8-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins. In 30 games, he hit .230.

He took a major step forward in 2020 as he hit .349 with 6 homers and 24 RBIs in 36 games for the Tigers, good for an an OPS of .932 and an OPS+ of 150. He shared the shortstop job with Niko Goodrum and also appeared a few times at third base. As a result, he was named the shortstop on the 2020 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

He was a true utility player with the Minnesota Twins in 2024 - but still played 158 games. That year, he became the first player in major league history to play at least 25 games at five different positions: shortstop (56), second base (40), left field (34), center field (30), and third base (27). In spite of the constant moving around, he was able to hit .247 with 12 homers, 89 runs and 60 RBIs. His OPS+ was 102 and he made the All-Star team.

Playing for the Colorado Rockies in 2026, he had a career game on June 14th when the Rockies set a team record for most runs in a game in a 23-9 win over The Athletics at Las Vegas Ballpark in Las Vegas, NV. The AAA ballpark proved to be maybe too friendly for hitters as all sorts of records were set during the six games when it served as the A's home park. In the last of these, Willi went 4 for 6 and collected 7 RBIs thanks to a pair of homers, one of them being a grand slam. It was the first slam of his career as previous game high for RBIs was three.

Notable Achievements

• 2020 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
• AL All-Star (2024)

Further Reading

• Matthew Leach: "Willi's technicolor dream ... gloves? Inside Castro's colorful collection", mlb.com, March 20, 2025. [1]

Related Sites

• Willi Castro on mlb.com