Castro coming of age with the Captains

Even though Willi Castro is the youngest player on Lake County's roster, his hitting coach, Kevin Howard, believes his natural ability makes up for a lack of experience.

"The first thing that stands out about Willi is that he's got great hands for his age," Howard said. "You can see it in the field and at the plate. He puts himself in a great position to hit and he's a really strong athlete."

Cleveland's No. 21 prospect went 4-for-5 with a home run, a double and four RBIs in Class A Lake County's 10-1 win over Burlington at Classic Park on Thursday night. The four hits and four RBIs were career highs for the Puerto Rico native.

After flying out to left field in the first inning, Castro followed up Nathan Lukes' double to right field in the third inning by laying down a bunt past Bees starter Jose Rodriguez for a single. 

"We encourage him to do that whenever he feels comfortable," Howard said. "There's an area where you can put that ball between the pitcher and the first baseman, and with his speed he's going to get on every time."

The 19-year-old second baseman stroked his second hit of the night in the fourth -- an RBI double to right that plated Bobby Ison. 

"When he gets himself in a rhythm, his athletic ability really starts to stand out," Howard said. "We want him to be the type of hitter that has tough at-bats and sprays the ball around the entire field."

After Lukes worked a two-out walk in the seventh, Castro hit a two-run shot over the left-field wall for his first Midwest League home run. Howard noted the infielder has sneaky power that will naturally develop as long as he sticks to the game plan at the plate.

"He doesn't look like the strongest guy in the world," his hitting coach said. "But he's got a lot more pop than people realize. He's just a really good athlete overall, and when he gets one he can turn on, it'll go out. I definitely don't think that will be his last home run."

Howard, who is in his first year with Lake County, coached Castro when the two were with short-season Mahoning Valley in the New York-Penn League in 2015. The young switch-hitter slashed .264/.304/.330 in 67 games with the Scrappers, and his hitting coach has been encouraged by the work he did during the winter.

"The biggest difference from last year is that he got a lot stronger in the offseason," Howard said. "And so he is much more comfortable staying down on his legs now. I think with 18- and 19-year-olds, there's a big gain in strength and confidence once you can control the bat. This year he looks like he's confident in controlling the bat, and a lot of that has to do with how well he's maturing."

After notching multiple hits in five of his first six games this season, Castro began to cool off a bit in mid-April. Howard noticed something was awry in the player's swing and worked with him in between games to get back on track.

"We looked at some film with him," he said. "He was coming out of his posture a little bit. Anytime you have late movement with your head, you're going to mishit balls. When his body is in a good position, his hand-eye coordination takes over."

Even with six hits over his last two games -- including a single to right in the sixth -- his coaching staff has Castro focusing on what's next, rather than what's already happened. 

"He's just got to continue on the process of getting better and not concentrate on the results of a game, good or bad," Howard said. "He knows he has ability, and we've told him we think he's going to be a Major Leaguer if he just focuses on the right things and tries to get better every day."

Yonathan Mendoza had three hits and an RBI for Lake County, which has scored 10 or more runs three times this season. Lukes went 2-for-3 with a double, two walks and three runs scored.

Captains left-hander Thomas Pannone (2-1) scattered four hits and struck out six over five scoreless innings.