Fabio Castillo cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Minors. The Los Angeles Dodgers designated the right-hander for assignment on Sept. 6 in a corresponding move to add Walker Buehler to their 40-man roster.
Castillo pitched 1.1 scoreless innings and struck out two against the San Diego Padres in his MLB debut on Sept. 2. He made another relief appearance at Petco Park the following day, but allowed two runs on three hits and didn’t retire any of the four batters faced.
The 28-year-old signed a Minor League contract with the Dodgers in January. He began the season with Triple-A Oklahoma City but was sent to Double-A Tulsa after just one start. Castillo went 0-1 with a 1.29 ERA in seven innings over three relief appearances with the Drillers.
He was 4-8 with one save and a 4.04 ERA in 25 combined games (16 starts) with Oklahoma City and Tulsa. In 22 games (16 starts) for OKC, Castillo went 4-8 with a 4.27 ERA, 85 strikeouts and 31 walks in 84.1 innings.
Prior to joining the Dodgers earlier this month, he was first added to the 40-man roster in June when the team selected Castillo’s contract. He never appeared in a game, however, as Castillo was immediately optioned back to Oklahoma City.
It’s believed the paper move was completed in order to prevent him from exercising an opt-out clause to pursue other opportunities.
Over parts of 11 Minor League seasons, Castillo is 35-54 with 25 saves and a 4.43 ERA in 347 games (57 starts) with the Texas Rangers (2006-12), San Francisco Giants (2013), Baltimore Orioles (2014), Cincinnati Reds (2014), San Diego Padres (2016) and Dodgers (2017) farm systems.
