{"id":115830,"date":"2026-03-18T00:32:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T04:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=115830"},"modified":"2026-03-18T00:32:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T04:32:59","slug":"reliever-kervin-castro-may-make-yankees-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/18\/reliever-kervin-castro-may-make-yankees-roster\/","title":{"rendered":"Kervin Castro Could Be Next Addition to Yankees Bullpen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New York Yankees undoubtedly have a strong roster, but even so, every roster has its weakness, and this team\u2019s weakness is its bullpen. It\u2019s a set of relievers that has been thrown together sort of haphazardly: a mix of solid veterans that includes <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bednada01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Bednar<\/a>, <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hillti01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tim Hill<\/a>, and <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dovalca01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Camilo Doval<\/a>, though two of them were <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/31\/yankees-acquire-camilo-doval-sf-giants\/\" target=\"_self\">acquired less than a year ago<\/a>. The rest of New York\u2019s pen includes young, fringe major leaguers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s also a bullpen that, according to manager <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/booneaa01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Boone<\/a>, has at least two spots that are \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/02\/04\/two-pitchers-that-could-round-off-the-2026-yankees-bullpen-staff\/\" target=\"_self\">up for grabs<\/a>.\u201d This means that this spring has been a showcase, and if there\u2019s one Yankees reliever that has stood out above the rest, it is <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/castrke01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kervin Castro<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 610px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBYtcNsqiN\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 7801px; aspect-ratio: 7801\/5201;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<h2>Kervin Castro Making a Case for Yankees Bullpen Spot This Spring<\/h2>\n<h2>Two Spots &#8220;Open&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Castro, 27, isn\u2019t facing too much competition, with the Yankees opting to find back-end options for their bullpen through their own system rather than acquiring or retaining one. Still, his numbers in 8 \u2153 spring innings have been exceptional. In exhibition play so far, he hasn\u2019t allowed a single earned run, and he has five strikeouts to just two walks. If the Yankees were to go off numbers alone, Castro would already have a spot on their active roster; i<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">n 35 appearances for Triple-A Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre last season, Castro had a 1.53 ERA over 47 innings, surrendering 22 walks but just one home run. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Added to the 40-man roster in November, the right-hander has built on that success in camp, becoming a versatile bullpen choice for a team that desperately needs it. According to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MLB.com<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/yankees\/news\/5-observations-from-2026-yankees-spring-training\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bryan Hoch<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Boone has talked about how Castro has \u201cgrabbed his attention,\u201d and it makes sense based on how ridiculous his numbers have been this spring. In particular, he\u2019s been able to cut down on walks while maintaining a low ERA and few other baserunners; plus, considering the 47 innings he pitched in Triple-A last year, he could be a useful long reliever for New York throughout the entire season.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yankees reliever Kervin Castro vs. Ben Rice in live BP. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LBhehJSLwF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/LBhehJSLwF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Randy Miller (@RandyJMiller) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RandyJMiller\/status\/2023463315209642111?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Competition<\/h2>\n<p>Other than Bednar, Doval, Hill, and <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=cruzfe01,cruz--005fer&amp;search=Fernando+Cruz&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fernando Cruz<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/17\/three-yankees-prospects-battling-for-roster-spot\/\" target=\"_self\">no other relievers are guarantees<\/a>. However, this is also dispelling pitchers like <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/headrbr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brent Headrick<\/a> and <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/birdja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake Bird<\/a>, who both spent a lot of time off New York&#8217;s MLB roster in 2025. Still, throughout the season, injuries make spots instantly available, so even if Castro starts the season with Triple-A Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre, it does not necessarily mean he is going to stay there for all of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Castro has not had too many opportunities in the major leagues yet; he has just 25 2\/3 career innings, though his ERA is a mediocre 4.91. At just 27 years of age, he could very well blossom into a fantastic reliever right away. The Yankees are prone to finding talent in the most unusual places, so this hard-throwing reliever in Castro could just be the Yankees&#8217; next great find, like <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/weavelu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Weaver<\/a> and <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cousija01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-18_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake Cousins<\/a> over the past few seasons.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Jim Rassol-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New York Yankees undoubtedly have a strong roster, but even so, every roster has its weakness, and this team\u2019s weakness is its bullpen. It\u2019s a set of relievers that has been thrown together sort of haphazardly: a mix of solid veterans that includes David Bednar, Tim Hill, and Camilo Doval, though two of them [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5148,"featured_media":115844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1071,35],"tags":[1787,28914,6283,5829,29024,6343,28848,29312,2562,28789],"class_list":["post-115830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yankees","category-mlb","category-news","tag-aaron-boone","tag-brent-headrick","tag-camilo-doval","tag-david-bednar","tag-fernando-cruz","tag-jake-bird","tag-jake-cousins","tag-kervin-castro","tag-luke-weaver","tag-tim-hill"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115830"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115845,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115830\/revisions\/115845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}