Colorado Rockies Top 25 Under 25: No. 20: Ryan Castellani

Welcome to the BSN Denver Colorado Rockies Top 25 Under 25 where we will rank the organization’s best players who will be 25 years-old or younger on Opening Day 2017.

Our parameters for this list are may be different than others it resembles so let us be clear about them:

1. The list was created entirely by the BSN Rockies staff and had no other input from any outside sources.
2. While giving credit for overall (or trade) value, we prioritized an ability to help the MLB club win immediately.
3. In accordance with this, we also prioritized players with fewer question marks but potentially lower ceilings.
4. Statistics were considered on equal level with scouting reports in addition to our own field reporting.

Our observations come through a combination of spending parts of each of the past four (going on five) seasons on the ground on the backfields at spring training and through our regular reporting from Rookie Level Grand Junction, talking to coaches, scouts, and journalists both on and off the record. Of course, countless hours are spent on MiLB.tv and combing over public reports from other credible sources.

No. 20: Ryan Castellani, RHP

Ryan Castellani is an incredibly intriguing piece in the Rockies farm system that has flown a little under the radar due to a drawn out development plan. Still just 20 years old, Castellani has already been in the Rockies organization for three years and has pitched over 300 innings as a professional despite starting out on a strict pitch limit.

Throwing in mostly hitter-friendly leagues, Castellani has posted impressive — though not outright dominating — numbers. Striking out over seven batters and walking under two and a half, he has kept his ERA under four while showing remarkable consistency from game to game for a guy pitching against competition much older than him.

Currently listed at six-foot-four and 195 pounds, Castellani could still add a bit of muscle to that frame (said the six-foot-two, 180 pound guy) which could add a bit of power and late tilt to the fastball. With his body as is, all three of his pitches (fastball, change up, curveball) are rated right about or slightly above average. That may not sound all that exciting, but having a 21-year-old starter heading into Double-A with a reliable three-pitch mix is pretty rare.

Similar to Zach Jemiola (our No. 25) Castellani has been pretty good on paper but exceptional when considering the full context of age and league. He may not have the eye-popping profile of the Jon Gray’s and Riley Pint’s of the world, but his solid mix of pitches, and good mind of when to use them, could propel him to a long and successful MLB career.

Scouts, evaluators, and the Rockies themselves have all been very high on Castellani’s overall potential and value since he entered the system. If we were ranking simply based on overall value, he would rank much higher on our list but there are just a few too many question marks, and he is a little too far away from MLB, to put him much higher than No. 20. However, Castellani is getting to that point in his career where the training wheels come off and development can take off exponentially. We saw this “wait up then hurry” approach taken with David Dahl and Raimel Tapia in 2016, and a strong 2017 campaign for Castellani in Double-A Hartford could do a world of good for his progress and shoot him right to the top of next year’s version of this list.

We’ve said this before, but it is a testament to the strength of the Rockies youth that this is as high as Ryan Castellani can get on our list.