Miami Marlins Prospect Watch: Daniel Castano Wins Southern League Pitcher of the Week Award

The Miami Marlins 30 top prospects has undergone a sea change over the past two seasons.

Daniel Castano has never been amongst the list of the most prized members of the Miami Marlins farm system. Often the forgotten man in the Marcell Ozuna deal, Castano came over from the St. Louis Cardinals along with Zac Gallen, Magneuris Sierra, and Sandy Alcantara.

The other three have made their major league debuts already with the Miami Marlins. Gallen headed west in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jazz Chisholm, Alcantara is the only pitcher in the Marlins rotation to not miss any starts through the 2019 campaign, and Sierra is back in triple-A with the New Orleans Baby Cakes.

Castano, who is a 6’4″, 230 lb. left-handed starting pitcher, initially joined the high-A Jupiter Hammerheads to start the 2018 campaign, eventually splitting the season between them and the middle-A Greensboro Grasshoppers. He earned a combined 9-12 record with a 3.93 ERA over 23 starts, striking out 116 in 135 innings and holding on to a slightly sub-par 1.34 WHIP.

Castano is a sight better through the first four months of the 2019 season, split between Jupiter and the double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. He’s whiffed 90 over 95 2/3 innings between the two clubs, going 5-3 with a 3.29 ERA. He’s also dropped his WHIP down to 1.11.

Castano stepped up his game even more over the past week, earning the Southern League Pitcher of the Week Award. According to Roger Hoover, with milb.com:

On Thursday August 8, Castano collected a nine-inning complete game in Jacksonville’s 5-1 win over the Mississippi Braves at the Baseball Grounds. In his nine innings of work he allowed a run on five hits while walking none and setting a new career-high with 13 strikeouts.“I was just trying to have a good game,” Castano said. “My grandparents were here from Austin, Texas. I was just trying to do my thing and throw strikes. Before the game my bullpen wasn’t very good. I knew I had to lock in early and not mess around especially against Mississippi, they hit well, I knew I had to execute my pitches and take it one inning at a time.”

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The award is for the week from August 5th through August 11th. Thursday’s game was the only one in which Castano appeared, although he has struck out 23 in 22 innings over his last three starts. He’s been successful in holding opposing batters to 11 hits, zero walks, and only one run during that time.

Although not a frontrunner, Castano is one of many outstanding prospects who will have a shot at the Miami Marlins rotation in the 2020 season, during which he’ll be 25-years-old. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

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