After spending the past two seasons in Double-A Hartford, the Rockies clearly want Ryan Castellani to take his game to the next level. The 23-year old right-hander was tabbed to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, and after a solid big-league camp this spring, began the 2019 season in Triple-A Albuquerque.
The former second-round draft pick is moving up as he develops a more consistent changeup to complement his bread-and-butter pitch, a mid-90s fastball.
“The changeup is almost feeling like a fastball for me. I grab it and let it go with full faith, regardless of the count,” Castellani said. “I’ve been messing around with a new grip since the fall league, and letting it play off my two-seam fastball. In my first (Triple-A) start, I threw about 20 of them, and I’ve never done that in any of my minor league starts before.”
And while the changeup has become “more of a weapon” for Castellani in conjunction with his slider and a curveball he’s been honing the past couple years, he’s also focused on efficiency and longevity in his debut season with the Isotopes.
“As a starting pitcher I take pride in staying healthy, making all my starts and going deep into games,” he said. “I’d love to get as close to 200 innings as I can, and really the goal is just going out start-to-start, being the same guy and getting ahead in the count.”
The 6-foot-4, 223-pounder went 7-9 with a 5.49 ERA with Hartford last season, and is one of several top pitching prospects in Albuquerque’s 2019 rotation that includes right-handers Peter Lambert and Chi Chi Gonzalez.
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