The Phillies have acquired infielder Rodolfo Castro from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for left-handed pitcher Bailey Falter, Phillies President of Baseball Operations David Dombrowski announced today.
Castro has played in 78 games for the Pirates this season and is slashing .290/.368/.538 against left-handed pitching and his .906 OPS ranks 18th in the National League. Overall, he is slashing .228/.317/.355 (.672 OPS) with 45 hits, seven doubles, six home runs, 21 walks and 62 strikeouts in 224 plate appearances. Defensively, the switch-hitting Castro appeared in 41 games (21 starts) at second base, 31 games (26 starts) at shortstop and nine games (six starts) at third base.
Born in Los Llanos, Dominican Republic, the 24-year-old has spent parts of the last three seasons with the Pirates after being signed by Pittsburgh as an amateur free agent on Oct. 30, 2015.
Falter, 26, was selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of the 2015 MLB Draft. In parts of the three seasons with Philadelphia, he went 8-12 with a 4.56 ERA (80 ER, 158.0 IP), 136 strikeouts and 31 walks over 50 games (24 starts).
