Luis Castillo (baseball player)

Luis Castillo
- Number 1
Second baseman
Born: September 12th, 1975 in San Pedro de Macorís , Dominican Republic
Strikes: alternately	Throws: Right
Debut in Major League Baseball
August 8,  1996  with the  Florida Marlins
Last MLB assignment
October 3,  2010  at the  New York Mets
MLB statistics (until end of career)
Batting average	, 290
Home runs	28
Runs batted in	443
Stolen Bases	370
Teams
Florida Marlins (1996-2005) Minnesota Twins (2006-2007) New York Mets (2007-2010)
Awards
2 × World Series Champion ( 1997 , 2003 ) 3 × All-Star (2002, 2003, 2005) 3 × Gold Glove Award (2003, 2004, 2005) Most of the Stolen Bases in the 2000 and 2002 MLB

Luis Antonio Castillo (born September 12, 1975 in San Pedro de Macorís , Dominican Republic ) is a Dominican baseball player in Major League Baseball . Castillo, who has been under contract with the New York Mets since 2007 , plays the position of second baseman and is particularly noticeable because of his large number of stolen bases .

Career

Castillo was signed to the Florida Marlins on August 19, 1992 as an undrafted free agent . From then on he played for the minor league teams of the Marlins until 1996 . On August 8, 1996 he got his first chance in the Major League. It was used 42 times during the season.

Florida marlins

From the 1997 season Castillo was then a regular in the MLB team of the Marlins. Together with Edgar Rentería , both players were 21 years old, he formed the youngest infield duo in the history of the National League . After Castillo broke his left heel in mid-1997 and then missed half a season, he was sent back to the minor league and was only used sporadically in the team until August 1998. Although for these reasons he got no playing time during the 1997 World Series , he can still claim the title for himself because he played in the regular season from time to time.

In the following years, Castillo showed ever stronger performances. His high number of stole bases in particular drew attention to him. In 2000 (62 Stolen Bases) and 2002 (48 Stolen Bases) he was the best in this category in the entire MLB. In 2002 he was also invited to the MLB All-Star Game for the first time .

In the 2003 season, Castillo won the second World Series with his team, this time as an active participant. In addition to the World Series 2003 , he was also able to win his first Gold Glove Award . He was able to repeat this in his last two years with the Marlins in 2004 and 2005.

Minnesota Twins

On December 2, 2005, Castillo moved to the Minnesota Twins . He played a strong first half of the season in 2006 and reached his 300th stolen base at that time.

In the 2007 season he reached a new MLB record after playing 143 games in a row on second base without error .

New York Mets

Castillo moved to the New York Mets on July 30, 2007 , where he delivered a very strong second half of the season. In the last 42 games of the year alone, he managed 34 runs.

Many injuries made 2008 a difficult year for Castillo. He could only play 87 games, but he was able to steal 17 bases in 19 attempts.

After another strong season in 2009, Castillo got relatively few stakes in 2010. He then brought himself up for a change. Whether the Mets will keep him for the 2011 season is still open.

Web links

Commons : Luis Castillo (baseball)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Player information and statistics from MLB  or  ESPN  or  Baseball Reference  or  Fangraphs  or  The Baseball Cube  or  Baseball Reference (Minor League) (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Castillo trying to live up to legacy. (No longer available online.) MLB.com, formerly the original ; accessed on October 20, 2012 (English).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
2. ↑ Castillo sets errorless streak at 2B. (No longer available online.) StarTribune.com, archived from the original on October 7, 2012 ; accessed on October 20, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.