Interview with Quad Cities/Astros RHP Jairo Solis and C Ruben Castro

For the last few years, I've worked with Doris Gonzalez, the Astros Supervisor of Education, Acculturation and Language Development on getting a few of the Latin players in the system used to doing interviews in English. She will let me know what players she feels are up to the challenge and I will record a short (and hopefully painless) video interview with a couple of players. On my recent trip to Quad Cities, I paired C Ruben Castro and RHP Jairo Solis.

Ruben Castro - July 2018

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Castro was drafted out of Puerto Rico in the 19th round in 2014. He has hit .260/.393/.365 for Quad Cities this season and boasts a 41% caught stealing rate. Quad Cities Pitching Coach Graham Johnson said of Castro, "From an offensive standpoint he came up and gave us a shot of energy into the lineup. He can run a little bit, obviously hit from the left side so adds another dimension for us in that way. Then went into a little bit of a lull, but of late has really come on and really had some good ABs. Even when he's not putting the ball in play, he's having some quality ABs and when he is, he's striking the ball well. From a defensive standpoint he works extremely hard. The big thing for him is receiving. That's going to be a big thing for him of how good he gets on that part of the game, but (he) blocks well, throws really well."

Jairo Solis - July 2018

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Solis signed with the Astros out of Venezuela as a 16-year old in 2016 and cruised through three levels in his first season in 2017. And at three years younger than the average River Bandits pitcher, Solis has (with a couple of notable exceptions) done quite well for himself. In 11 games (10 starts), he has a 3.67 ERA and a 1.704 WHIP (41.2 IP). Back out his first outing and his last outing and that drops dramatically to a 1.66 ERA and a 1.421 WHIP in 38 innings. Not bad at all for someone who doesn't turn 19 until December. Johnson said of Solis, "Very young and at the same time extremely gifted, extremely talented and that's obviously why he's here. As soon as he got into the Astros organization, they saw some very quick development and that's why he shot right to us. The big thing for him is he's got the power fastball and the offspeed is there, but it's more about how to use and when to use the offspeed. That is going to be the key to unlocking what he can really do on the mound."

Without further ado, here is the interview. I apologize for the sound quality; there was a TON of background noise. Enjoy!