The Case for Willi Castro, All-Star

Willi Castro has been invaluable.

No this isn’t another Willi Castro fan-fiction, much to the dismay of Twinkie Town readers everywhere, but it’s a legitimate fact. Castro has been not just one of the Twins best players in a season full of unexpected breakouts, he’s been one of the best players in baseball. Period.

His value to the Twins is immense purely on the defensive side of the ball. Byron Buxton goes on the IL? Willi is in CF for two weeks. Correa pulls a muscle? Castro is now the starting shortstop. Wallner, Julien, and Kirilloff are underperforming? The Twins can call up any prospect they want to because they can just move Willi around wherever he’s needed. In fact, he is the only player in MLB history (!!!) to play at least 20 games at each of 2B, SS, 3B, LF, and CF in the same season. Oh, and he’s hit 30% better than league average with a 130 wRC+.

There isn’t an automatic utility spot on the All-Star team, but there probably should be the way the game is played in 2024. Among players who have played at least three positions this season, Willi leads them all with 2.8 fWAR. Next on the list is Jordan Westburg at 2.7 (who only technically qualifies thanks to 1 inning at SS as an injury replacement) and Edmundo Sosa at 1.9, who have each played only the minimum three positions. Willi has played six.

It’s hard to argue against him as one of 20 position player All-Stars. Willi ranks 9th in the AL in batter fWAR, trailing only eight players (including Carlos Correa) who are locks for the All-Star team. None of the old-school counting stats are going to pop for Willi since, until recently, he’s been consistently hitting at the bottom of the order, but he’s played in every single Twins game this season despite leading the league with 13 HBPs. He’s not putting up Carlos Correa-type numbers, but being a well above-average hitter while playing good defense at many positions goes a long way.

Looking at insider Ken Rosenthal’s predictions (where Castro doesn’t even get mentioned), he includes players much further down the fWAR list than Willi, including Josh Naylor (49th), Corey Seager (25th), and the aforementioned Westburg (15th). Of course, value isn’t everything. Every team needs at least one representative and you have to include players at every position, plus the ASG is a showcase for fans, meaning you want to get guys with name-recognition into the spotlight. Naylor is the most suspect inclusion, but the AL’s weak class of first basemen makes him a near lock, unfortunately.

If we’re being honest with ourselves, it’s pretty unlikely Castro will make the cut Sunday night. But injury replacements are selected by the All-Star manager, and every manager loves players like Willi Castro. If someone misses the game with injury or chooses not to participate, Castro could very well find himself in Arlington. Twins fans know he should be there anyway, but I’ll take it however I can get it.

Get this man into the All-Star Game.