Kervin Alexander Castro (born February 7, 1999) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs. He signed with the Giants as an international free agent in 2015, and made his MLB debut with them in 2021.
Castro was born in Maracay, Venezuela. At 15 years of age, he hit 88 mph in his second bullpen session.
Castro signed with the San Francisco Giants as an international free agent for $100,000 in 2015, when he was 16 years old. Originally a catcher, he converted to pitcher. In 2016, he pitched for the Rookie-level DSL Giants in the Dominican Summer League (DSL; Southern Division), and was 3âÂÂ1 with a 4.71 ERA in 14 relief appearances covering 21 innings. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017. That led to him missing all of the 2017 season and nearly all of the 2018 season, only pitching one inning in 2018 in the DSL.
In 2019 he was both a mid-season and post-season Northwest League All Star for the Low-A Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, for whom he was 5âÂÂ3 with a 2.66 ERA and 0.96 WHIP (leading the league) in 14 starts (2nd) covering innings (2nd). He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 20, 2020, the Giants added Castro to their 40-man roster in order to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
Castro split 2021 between the Triple-A West Sacramento River Cats and the major league Giants. With the River Cats, Castro was 6âÂÂ1 with one save and a 2.86 ERA in 30 relief appearances covering 44 innings, in which he gave up 6.3 hits and struck out 12.3 batters per 9 innings. He throws a fastball that reaches 97 mph, a sharp power curveball, and a changeup.
On September 6, 2021, Castro was called up by the Giants to the major leagues. A day later, he made his MLB debut against the Colorado Rockies at 22 years of age. Castro pitched two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out one batter.
In the 2021 regular season, he was 1âÂÂ1 with an 0.00 ERA. In 10 games he pitched relief innings, in which he had 13 strikeouts. In the post-season, in the 2021 NLDS he pitched an additional innings of shutout ball in two games, for a combined total of innings of 0.00 ERA baseball on the season.
On August 1, 2022, Castro was designated for assignment by the Giants.
On August 2, 2022, he was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs and was optioned to Triple-A Iowa Cubs. He struggled to a 7.59 ERA across 8 appearances for Chicago, and was designated for assignment on September 6. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to TripleâÂÂA on September 9. Castro elected free agency following the season on November 10.
On December 12, 2022, Castro signed a minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers organization. In 2023, he made 10 appearances for the TripleâÂÂA Toledo Mud Hens, recording a 2.30 ERA with 19 strikeouts and 1 save in innings pitched. On June 14, 2023, it was announced that Castro had undergone Tommy John surgery, ending his season. He was released by the Tigers organization on August 9.
On November 18, 2023, Castro signed a minor league contract with the Houston Astros. The New York Yankees selected Castro from the Astros in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft on December 6. He spent the 2024 season in rehabilitation due to his elbow surgery.
In 2025, Castro made 35 appearances for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders, logging a 5-1 record and 1.53 ERA with 52 strikeouts and four saves across 47 innings of work. On November 6, 2025, the Yankees added Castro to their 40-man roster to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency.
Castro was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the 2026 season.