Twins super utilityman Willi Castro named to AL All-Star team as replacement

Earlier this season, one superstar teammate identified Willi Castro as the Minnesota Twins’ most valuable player.

Now, Carlos Correa can describe Castro as an All-Star, too.

Castro was named a replacement to the American League All-Star team on Thursday. This is the first All-Star nod for the Twins utilityman, who is hitting .268/.354/.430 with 22 doubles, seven home runs, 31 RBIs, 10 stolen bases and leads the team in runs (54) and games (93).

“He’s the real MVP of this team,” Correa said on June 16. “He plays everywhere. If somebody gets hurt, he replaces them with no problem. If you ask him to play second, he plays great defense at second base. If you ask him to play shortstop, left, center, it doesn’t matter. He plays everywhere. When you have a guy like that, he makes you so much better as a team. I think we should appreciate him way more than we do already. He’s a real great player.”

Castro joins Correa as the team’s other representative on the AL squad for the exhibition, which will be played on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas. He was named as a replacement for Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve. Marcus Semien of the Texas Rangers is now the starting second baseman for the AL.

Signed to a minor-league deal before the 2023 season, Castro has provided the Twins with immense value the past 1 1/2 seasons, frequently moving around the field. This season, Castro has appeared in at least 20 games at shortstop, third base, second base, center field and left field. He took over at shortstop in April when Correa was injured and assumed the starting role at second base after Edouard Julien’s demotion in June.

“Even when we give him a day off, he somehow finds a way in and manages to hit a line drive,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said last month. “He’s been wonderful. We talk about Willi all the time. I think every person in our clubhouse, no matter who they are — pitcher, catcher, position player, coach, trainer — you look at and admire Willi Castro in a big way.”

The Twins, off on Thursday, boast the seventh-best record in baseball (53-40). Yet until Castro was named, they were represented on the AL roster by only Correa, who was named to the team for the third time in his career on Sunday.

“I just think it feels obvious to me that we have several players that had not good, but spectacular first halves,” Baldelli said this week. “And when that happens, you want your players commended for it and acknowledged throughout the league. There are some teams that have two and three and four All-Stars, and that’s great because those players are excellent, but we should have more. It’s clear in my mind.”

The Twins have been thrilled with Castro’s performance since he joined them, following his release by the Detroit Tigers after the 2022 season. Castro played all over the field and produced a 750 OPS with 33 stolen bases last season, generating 2.7 WAR, according to Baseball Reference.

This season, the switch-hitting Castro has become more dangerous from the right side and already has matched last season’s WAR total (2.7).

GO DEEPER

Picking the Twins’ first-half MVP: Carlos Correa, Willi Castro and two healthy feet

(Photo: Brandon Sloter / Getty Images)