Daniel Castano’s 2018 Season Review

Throughout the 2018/2019 offseason, Marlin Maniac will devote one article each for every player who appeared in the Miami Marlins system for the 2018 season. Every. Single. Player. This is Part 93 of 286. Stay tuned.

Daniel Alexander Castano is a 6’4″, 230 lb. left-handed pitcher from Orlando, Florida. Born on September 17th, 1994, he was a 19th round choice of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016 out of Baylor University.

In three seasons with the Bears, Castano pitched to a 13-15 record with a 3.91 ERA. He struck out 147 in 234 2/3 innings, and earned a 1.49 WHIP. He was chosen with the 586th overall pick.

Four players chosen with the 586th selection have eventually reached the major leagues, or seven percent. The small group is led by Mark Bomback (1971, Boston Red Sox, 2.5 career WAR). Follow Castano on Twitter @Dan_Castano22.

Castano joined the Johnson City Cardinals in the rookie-level Appalachian League after signing for a $130,000 bonus. He went 2-5 with a 6.19 ERA over 11 starts, also making one relief appearance, and pitched to a 1.56 WHIP. He also struck out 34 over 48 innings.

In 2017, Castano started the season off with a promotion to the short-season-A State College Spikes in the New York-Penn League. He stayed in the rotation through the entire season, making 14 starts and going 9-3 with a 2.57 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP, making 81 K’s in 91 innings.

On December 14th, the Cardinals acquired Marcell Ozuna from the Miami Marlins for Castano, Magneuris Sierra, current number 20 prospect Zac Gallen and current number three Sandy Alcantara.

The Miami Marlins started Castano’s 2018 campaign with the high-A Jupiter Hammerheads in the Florida State League. On May 30th, in a 7-1 victory against the St. Lucie Mets, Castano started and won, holding the Mets scoreless through six innings of four-hit ball. He struck out three.

Before a slight injury took him out of commission for two weeks, Castano pitched 57 1/3 innings for the Hammerheads, going 5-6 with a 5.65 ERA and a .315 opposing batting average. After two rehab starts with the GCL Marlins, Castano was shuffled up to the single-A Greensboro Grasshoppers in the South Atlantic League.

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In eight starts for Greensboro, Castano struck out 52 in 50 innings, earning a 4-3 record and a 2.70 ERA. Most impressively was his walk rate. He only allowed four and totaled a 1.040 WHIP. On June 29th, in a 1-0 win over the Delmarva Shorebirds, Castano struck out eight over six four-hit, zero-walk innings. On July 22nd, he earned another 1-0 win over Delmarva, whiffing five batters in seven shutout no-walk, four-hit innings.

Pushed back up to high-A to close the season, Castano pitched to a 1.93 ERA over his final 18 2/3 innings with the Sharks. Coming into the 2019 campaign, we can probably expect the Miami Marlins to start him with the Hammerheads at first. With a good April and May, he could move up to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in the double-A Southern League.

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