The Chicago White Sox are entering the second year of their rebuilding process, and they’ve added some pieces to help move things along in 2018.
Today we’re taking a look at new catcher Welington Castillo.
How He Got Here
The White Sox signed Castillo on the free agent market, inking him to a two-year contract with a team option for the 2020 season.
What He Did in 2017
Castillo was a good power hitter for the Orioles in limited action in 2017, hitting 20 home runs and driving in 53 RBI in just 341 at-bats.
Chicago Baseball
nScimeca-Knierim and her husband Chris won bronze medals in the Team Event, but struggled to a disappointing no-medal finish in Pairs Figure Skating.
nDiggins gave an inspiring performance in the cross-country skiing team event, contributing to the first American cross-country skiing gold medal in Olympic history. She also racked up top-five finishes in the 10 kilometer freeski, the 15 kilometer skiathlon, and the Ladies 4 x 5 kilometer relay.
nDavis finished well off the pace in the 1500 meter race, finishing in 19th place, but will still compete in the 1000 meter race.
Tennell won a bronze medal as part of the Team Figure Skating event, but that success hasn't carried over to her individual event, as she is in 11th place after the Short Program in Ladies Figure Skating.
nNick had two chances to chase down Oystein Braaten in the Slopestyle event, but came up just short as he put up a 93.60 in his final run. That was good enough to capture the silver, overtaking Canad’s Alex Beaulieu-Marchand.
nHamilton struggled with her brother Matt in mixed doubles, finishing in 7th place, and didn't fare a lot better in the Women's competition, as Team USA failed to reach the medal round.
nHamilton helped the U.S. men's curling team advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Great Britain, but struggled in mixed doubles, finishing in seventh place out of eight teams in the mixed doubles curling competition.
nThe Shibutani’s, or #ShibSibs, came into the Olympics with high hopes and delivered a pair of medal winning performances, including a bronze medal in the Team Event. They also had a strong Free Skate in the Ice Dancing competition, finishing in the bronze medal spot behind the Canadian duo of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
nLoomis finished in 41st in the Individual Gundersen NH/10 Kilometer race and 40th in the Individual Gundersen LH/10 Kilometer race.
nMack struggled in the Men’s Slopestyle event, finishing in 23rd, but has a great shot at a medal in the Men’s Big Air competition after nailing an impressive 88.75 score in the quarterfinals to qualify for the final competition.
nIt has been a rough Olympic Games for Lehman, as he finished 21st out of 22 skaters in the 5000 meter race, and led the U.S. to a quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Canada in the Men’s Team Pursuit. He is currently scheduled to compete for the U.S. in the Men’s Mass Start event on the final day of Olympic competition.
nThe American competitors in the Women’s Normal Hill competition struggled in the final round, including Englund as she registered a 57.9 score and jumped just 77 meters in a 31st place finish.
It has been a rough Olympics for Hansen, as he finished in 15th place in the 1500 meters and failed to advance out of the quarterfinals in the Men’s Team Pursuit. Hansen is slated to compete in the Men’s Mass Start on Saturday in Pyeongchang.
nFinished in 58th place in the Men’s 10 Kilometer sprint, 50th in the 12.5 Kilometer pursuit and 66th in the 20 Kilometer individual event.
nGeorge and the U.S. men's curling team advanced to the semi-final competition, where they will face Canada.
nLarson, the 100,000th male athlete in Olympics history, finished in 39th place in the Normal Hill competition. He also failed to qualify in the Large Hill competition, and his team finished 9th in the Team Event.
nEvans finished fifth in Women's Bobsled, missing bronze by 0.13 seconds, but fellow Americans Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs took silver.
nLandsteiner is advancing to the semi-finals to face Canada with the U.S. men's curling team.
nPolo is advancing to the semi-finals against Canada.
nThe U.S. men's curling team is advancing with to the semi-finals to face Canada with Shuster.
nChristensen competed with the U.S. women's team but was eliminated by Sweden in a 9-6 loss to fall short of the medal round.
nIn her fourth attempt, Geving finally qualified for the Olympics this time around, but the U.S. women's curling team was eliminated by Sweden.
nA pharmacist, Peterson won a bronze medal with fellow Olympian Joe Polo at the 2016 World Mixed Doubles Championship. Unfortunately, the U.S. women's curling team was eliminated by Sweden.
nA registered nurse, Roth's squad was the top ranked team heading into trials and punched their ticket to PyeongChang, but the U.S. women's curling team was eliminated by Sweden.
nIn seventh place after the Short Dance, Chock and Bates stumbled in the Free Dance, putting up a score of 100.13, 12th-best among the qualified competitors. That led to them dropping to ninth place in the overall standings for the event, which was won by Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
nIn seventh place after the Short Dance, Chock and Bates stumbled in the Free Dance, putting up a score of 100.13, 12th-best among the qualified competitors. That led to them dropping to ninth place in the overall standings for the event, which was won by Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
nHubbel and partner Zachary Donohue narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal, finishing in fourth place in Ice Dancing. They were in third after the short program, but put up a 109.94 in the free dance, leaving them just five points behind Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani for a place on the podium.
Currently with Linkopings HC in the Swedish League, Billins has played in 10 NHL games. Billins and the U.S. men's team were knocked out of the competition after a 3-2 quarterfinal loss to the Czech Republic.
nBrandt and the U.S. women's ice hockey team are prepping to face Canada for the gold. Brandt has won two World Championships with the U.S. squad, including the 2017 title.
nCameranesi and the U.S. women's ice hockey team are prepping to face Canada for the gold. Cameranesi was on the team that won the Four Nations Cup in 2017 and also competed in the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship, helping the U.S. take home the gold in 2015.
nCoyne won a silver medal with the U.S. squad in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and currently plays for the independent Minnesota Whitecaps. The U.S. women's hockey team is on its way to facing Canada for the gold.
nDecker, who plays for the NWHL's Boston Pride, will be competing in her second Olympics after winning silver in Sochi in 2014. The U.S. women's ice hockey team is set to play Canada for the gold.
nKeller has appeared in the last three Women's World Championships, winning gold with the U.S. on three straight occasions. The U.S. women's ice hockey team is moving on to face Canada for the gold.
nKessel is competing in her second Olympics after racking up three goals and three assists in the 2014 Sochi Games. She has helped the U.S. women's ice hockey team advance to the gold medal match against Canada. Kessel's brother Phil plays for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.
nKnight, who was raised in Lake Forest, is one of the biggest stars of women's hockey. She and the U.S. women's ice hockey team are prepping to battle Canada for the gold medal.
nMarvin is about to battle Canada for the gold medal in her third Olympics. She had three assists in five games for the American squad during the Sochi Olympics.
Morin plied her craft at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and scored 19 goals and dished out 51 assists in her collegiate career. Now she is getting ready to face off against Canada in the gold medal game.
nPannek will be competing in her first Olympics this winter after guiding the U.S. team to a gold medal in the 2017 World Championships. She is looking to repeat her success and take home the gold in an upcoming matchup against Canada.
nThe first-time Olympic goaltender is looking to secure the gold in the final match against Canada.
nRooney may take home her first gold medal in her first Olympics at just 20 years of age. She registered a shutout against Russia during the 2017 World Championships in Michigan.
Slater was knocked out of the competition by the Czech Republic. Slater has played for the Winnipeg Jets in his NHL career, and is currently playing with Fribourg-Gotteron HC in Switzerland.
nThe defenseman, who plays for the University of Minnesota, is competing in her second Olympics after helping the U.S. to gold medals in the last three World Championships. The team is getting ready to face Canada in the gold medal match.
nStoa has spent the last two seasons with Moscow Spartak of the KHL. He was knocked out of the Olympics in a loss to the Czech Republic.
The former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman played in his first Olympics, but the team was defeated in a quarterfinals loss to the Czech Republic.
nGehring placed 21st in the 500 meter race, 26th in the 1500 meter race and was knocked out of competition for the 1000 meter race.
nKooreman had a rough Olympics, getting knocked out of the 1000 meter race in the first round and getting disqualified in the 1500 meter race for a false start.
nPivirotto will compete with his team in the men's 5000 meter relay Final B.
nWhitmore finished 15th in the men's 500 meter race and will compete in the 1000 meter race.
nAntoine won a bronze medal during the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, but came up short in 14th place this year.
nBaumgartner placed fourth in his third Olympic Games. He previously won a gold Snowboard Cross medal in the 2011 Winter X Games.
What Does He Bring to the Table?
Last season, the White Sox got precious little offensive production out of their catchers, who combined for 10 home runs and 51 RBI in 162 games. Castillo gives them an instant upgrade in that department, and he could provide a strong bat in the middle of an order that includes Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia.
The big question for Castillo comes on the defensive side of things. Prior to the 2017 season he was known as a below-average pitch framer that struggled in helping his pitchers get strikes, but according to Fangraphs he had an above-average season with the Orioles, so it’s going to be fascinating to see if he regresses, or if his defensive metrics continue to trend in the right direction.
Our Prediction for 2018
Baseball Reference is projecting Castillo to hit just about as many home runs and to drive in a few more runs in the White Sox lineup this season, and we’re going to guess that he’ll be right around the 20 home run and 60 RBI mark.
The two-year contract that Castillo signed indicates that the team plans on him being around for at least this season, and that could be an important indicator as to how they feel about Omar Narvaez and Kevan Smith’s development at the big league level.
Castillo’s deal also paves the way for Zack Collins to take his time in developing, but we’re anticipating that Castillo will be the main guy in 2018, without much fear of Collins coming up and taking his job.
