Luis Castillo (second baseman)

Luis Antonio Castillo (born September 12, 1975) is a Dominican former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for the Florida Marlins, New York Mets, and Minnesota Twins from 1996 through 2010.

Castillo is a three-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, and won the World Series with the Marlins in 1997 and 2003 (although he did not play in the 1997 series). He is also the only player who played for the Marlins in both of their World Series winning seasons who did not get traded in between the two seasons (Jeff Conine was on both teams but was traded after 1997 and returned during the 2003 season). The all-time leader in both games played (1,128) and base hits (1,273) for the Marlins, he is one of only two players to play 1,000 games for the franchise (the other also being Conine).

Professional career

Early career

On August 19, 1992, Castillo was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Florida Marlins. In 1994, he played his first year of baseball in the Gulf Coast League, playing for the Gulf Coast Marlins. He also set a Marlins short-season record in stolen bases, with 31.

In 1995, he was called up to the Kane County Cougars in the Class-A Midwest League, and was selected to the All-Star team. He injured his shoulder in July, causing him to miss the rest of the season. That year, he led the entire Marlins organization in batting average with .326, as well as being second in stolen bases. He bruised his left heel mid-season, and missed the entire month of May with the injury. He was optioned to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on July 28 and did not come back to the major leagues until the next season. Due to this, he did not play for the Marlins during the 1997 World Series. Castillo played second base in the 2002 All-Star Game, the first All-Star selection of his career. In 2002, he hit .305 with 39 RBIs and 48 stolen bases, leading the league in stolen bases for the second time in his career. He was again named the Marlins Most Valuable Player by the South Florida Chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Castillo won his second straight Gold Glove and posted the National League's second-best fielding percentage at second base (.991), behind Philadelphia's Plácido Polanco. The Marlins replaced Castillo at second base with Dan Uggla, a Rule 5 selection from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Minnesota Twins

200px|thumb|right|Castillo takes a lead on June 23, 2008

In 2006, Castillo began his only full season playing for the Minnesota Twins. He had an impressive first month of hitting, batting .432 with 19 hits. Over that stretch, Castillo drove in runs in five straight games from April 13 to 19. Castillo had three four-hit games for the Twins this season, on April 15, August 5, and August 9. He had a six-game hitting streak from May 6 to 13, and recorded his 300th career stolen base while facing the Chicago White Sox on August 26. He also recorded his 1,500th career hit on May 29 while facing the Chicago White Sox.

New York Mets

Castillo was traded by the Twins to the New York Mets on July 30, 2007, for two minor league players, catcher Drew Butera and outfielder Dustin Martin. He finished the season with a .301 batting average with one home run, 38 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. On November 18, the Mets re-signed him to a four-year contract worth a reported $25 million. Castillo had a strong finish to the 2007 season after being traded. He reached base safely in 40 of his last 46 games, and scored 34 runs in his last 42 games. In 50 games as a Met, Castillo batted .296 with 20 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

In 2008, a year plagued with injuries and several bench stints, Castillo hit .245 in 87 games, but still managed to steal 17 bases in 19 attempts.

In 2009 spring training, Castillo led all major league players in walks, with 17 from 56 official at-bats. On March 16, 2009, Castillo was presented the opportunity to bat right-handed instead of being a switch hitter. He declined, and continued to be a switch hitter throughout the rest of his career. Although the Mets struggled as a team, Castillo enjoyed a bounce-back year in '09, hitting .302 with 77 runs scored and a .387 on-base percentage. However, on June 12, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and runners on first and second base, Castillo dropped an easy pop fly hit by Alex Rodriguez for a two-run game-ending error at Yankee Stadium, earning him a measure of infamy in the Mets–Yankees rivalry and a place in Mets' history.

On June 4, 2010, the Mets put Castillo on the disabled list because of problems in both his feet. He was replaced by Rubén Tejada who played at second base in the Mets' 5–4 win against the Florida Marlins at Citi Field. He was criticized, along with Carlos Beltrán and Óliver Pérez, for not visiting injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with his teammates. Castillo commented on not being happy with his playing time and "has to work something out this offseason". During spring training of 2010, he was booed by the home fans at Digital Domain Park where the Mets play their spring training games. He was released from the Mets spring training roster on March 18, 2011.

On March 21, 2011, Castillo signed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. On March 22, he reported to Phillies training camp. Castillo was released shortly thereafter on March 30, 2011.

He appeared on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum 2016 election and earned zero votes.

Career statistics

In 1,720 games over 15 seasons, Castillo posted a .290 batting average (1,889-for-6,510) with 1,001 runs, 194 doubles, 59 triples, 28 home runs, 443 RBI, 370 stolen bases, 800 bases on balls, .368 on-base percentage and .351 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .984 fielding percentage playing every inning of his major league career at second base. In 20 postseason games, he hit .220 (18-for-82) with 6 runs, 4 doubles, 4 RBI, 3 stolen bases and 11 walks.

In August 2019, Castillo was cited on charges related to a drug trafficking and money laundering operation, while Octavio Dotel was arrested on related charges. In late August 2019, Castillo was cleared of money laundering charges, and it was determined that there was no evidence to link Castillo to any money laundering activity.

References

External links

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