Pirates' Castro Drops Phone While Sliding In Game; MLB Investigating

Major League Baseball has launched an investigation into Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Rodolfo Castro dropping a cell phone out of his pocket, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

Castro, who was recently called up to the majors from Triple-A Indianapolis, drew a walk in the top of the fourth inning of the Pirates' 6-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday (August 9) night and advanced to third after teammate Oneil Cruz hit a single.

A cell phone appeared to fall out of Cruz's pocket as he slid into third, which is "technically was in violation of MLB’s regulation prohibiting electronic devices on the field or in the dugout (except for MLB-approved iPads)," according to Rosenthal, who specified that it was unknown whether Cruz would face discipline for his actions.

“I don’t think there’s any professional ballplayer that would ever go out there with any intentions of taking a cellphone,” Castro told reporters through an interpreter after the game via ESPN. “It’s horrible it happened to me. Obviously, it was very unintentional.”

Castro went 0-3 with a walk during Wednesday's game, which was his first major league appearance since June 4.

The Dominican native was hitting for a .246 average, 12 home runs and 40 RBI during 314 plate appearances for Triple-A Indianapolis this season.