I don't think any New York Yankees fans expected this.
For the most part, the New York Yankees' roster looks awfully similar to the way it did last year. Their starting lineup is exactly the same (minus Anthony Volpe, who is recovering from shoulder surgery), and there really aren't many new faces across the roster.
However, one surprising player is evidently drawing eyes in Spring Training.
The Yankees' bullpen is the one area of the squad that is a bit of a wild card right now. New York still has David Bednar, Camilo Doval and Fernando Cruz at the heart of the pen, but it lost both Devin Williams and Luke Weaver to free agency and didn't replace them with any notable names.
The Yankees did acquire Angel Chivilli in a trade with the Colorado Rockies, but he has bombed this spring. Rule 5 draft pick Cade Winquest is intriguing, but he hasn't been great in his exhibition appearances.
Taking all of that into consideration, it's entirely possible that an unexpected arm could end up making the roster heading into Opening Day, and that arm could be right-hander Kervin Castro.
Castro has made six appearances in Spring Training, tossing 8.1 innings without giving up an earned run. He has allowed just three hits while walking two, striking out five.
Kervin Castro. Credit: Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK.Yankees manager Aaron Boone has taken notice of the 27-year-old.
"Kervin’s gotten my attention," Boone said, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
This isn't the first time we have heard Castro's name over the last month. Several weeks ago, a Yankees official told Brendan Kuty of The Athletic that Castro was "a little funky" and "gets it done."
Castro hasn't actually pitched in the big leagues since 2022, when he made 10 appearances between the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants.
In 20 major-league outings overall, the Venezuelan native has logged a 4.91 ERA while allowing 28 hits and registering 24 strikeouts across 25.2 frames.
The MLB numbers don't look great for Castro, but it is also an incredibly small sample size, and he is surely a different pitcher now than he was four years ago.
Case in point, Castro was brilliant for the Yankees in Triple-A last season, posting a 1.35 ERA while averaging 10 strikeouts per nine innings through 35 relief appearances.
Perhaps Castro has turned a corner, and with New York still having a couple of open slots in its bullpen, it's entirely possible that he steals a spot.
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