Another day, another fringe arm added to the Phillies’ roster.

They claimed Max Castillo off waivers from the Boston Red Sox, and in turn designated Simon Muzziotti for assignment.

This is interesting because Muzziotti was the only true outfielder on the Phillies 40-man roster not penciled into the major league roster. Kody Clemens, Weston Wilson and recently claimed Deigo Castillo (no relation) all are utility types who can play the outfield.

Castillo, 24, has tossed just 59 2/3 innings over the past two seasons with Toronto and Kansas City. He started six games in 2022 but was used as a reliever by the Royals last season.


In that small major league sample, Castillo posted a 5.43 ERA and a 1.374WHIP. He doesn’t strikeout a lot of batters (18.1%) and he has a walk rate on the higher side (9.3%).

However, much like Michael Rucker, who the Phillies acquired from the Cubs a day earlier, Castillo has an option remaining and is not yet arbitration eligible, giving the Phillies flexibility with him.

The Red Sox claimed him off of waivers from Kansas City last month, but DFA’d him last week after trading for catcher Tyler Heineman from the New York Mets.

Muzziotti, 25, only got to appear in nine games for the Phillies in 2022 but had a strong season at Triple A Lehigh Valley in 2023, slashing .298/.358/.404 for a .761 OPS with seven homers, 61 RBI and 26 stolen bases in 124 games for the Iron Pigs. However, when the Phillies needed bench help during the season, he was never given the opportunity, and now will likely be heading to another team because he, too, has an option remaining, which can be enticing to teams in need of outfield depth.

One would assume the Phillies are one of those teams, but I guess they figure it this way:

Your starting outfield is Brandon Marsh in left, Johan Rojas in center and Nick Castellanos in right. Your bench outfielders, who can play all three positions, are Cristian Pache and Jake Cave. Marsh can also slide over to either position in case of an injury.

Then, you probably don’t want to play him in the outfield much at all, but in case of emergency, you can put Kyle Schwarber in left field. If things get real hairy, you could always move Bryce Harper back to the outfield.

And, as mentioned earlier, Kody Clemens, Weston Wilson and the other Castillo (Diego) can all play left field (or maybe even right field in a pinch).

With that much versatility, maybe you can load up on pitchers for the 40-man roster instead.

That’s one way to look at it. I view their outfield depth as lean.

Any way you slice it though, the Phillies gave up on Muzziotti to add a fringe, depth pitcher, which is more of a result of being unable to produce MLB-quality pitching depth at the highest level of the minor leagues, which was why one of the first things Dave Dombrowski did as President of Baseball Operations was to overhaul the player development staff.