Philadelphia Phillies infielder suffers season-ending injury

For the most part, the Philadelphia Phillies have a relatively good record.

There have been some bumps and bruises throughout the long season, most notably when Trea Turner was sidelined for an extended period, JT Realmuto had minor knee surgery, and deadline-day signees Austin Hays and Ranger Suarez are currently on the injured list. For the most part, though, they have remained healthy.

Unfortunately, that has changed for one of the Phillies infielders.

According to Matt Gelb from The athleteRodolfo Castro will now be out for the rest of the year after tearing a ligament in his right thumb this week.

The all-rounder was acquired at the trade deadline last season when Philadelphia sent pitcher Bailey Falter to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Although he did not appear in a single game this year after appearing in 14 games in 2023, he still had a spot on the 40-man roster.

He was relegated to Triple-A to begin this season and appeared in only 23 minor league games after being placed on the injured list in April and subsequently on the 60-day waiting list.

Castro was signed by the Pirates as an international free agent in 2015, and after working his way up their pipeline, he made his major league debut in 2021 and played 180 games with Pittsburgh before being traded to the Phillies.

He has a career slash average of .226/.299/.396 with 22 home runs and 59 RBI and has an OPS+ of 91 with the Pirates.

He was unlikely to have started for Philadelphia this year unless one of their regular or rotation infielders suffered a catastrophic injury, but there is now less depth available in the event that something like that happens.