José Gregorio Castillo Tovar (born January 10, 1996) is a Venezuelan

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

organization. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

Career

Tampa Bay Rays

Castillo signed with the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

as a non-drafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on July 7, 2012. He spent under two seasons playing for Tampa Bay's minor league affiliates.

San Diego Padres

The Rays traded Castillo,

Wil Myers William Bradford Myers (born December 10, 1990) is an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padre ...

Ryan Hanigan Ryan Michael Hanigan (born August 16, 1980) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, and Colorado Rockies. After graduating from Andov ...

and Gerardo Reyes to the

in exchange for

René Rivera René Rivera (born July 31, 1983) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Met ...

Burch Smith Burch Taylor Smith (born April 12, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Smith was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 11th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball d ...

and

Jake Bauers Jakob Christopher Bauers (born October 6, 1995) is an American professional baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter in the New York Yankees organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleve ...

on December 19, 2014. Castillo was selected as a member of the

Venezuela national baseball team The Venezuela national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Venezuela'') is the national team of Venezuela. It is currently ranked sixth in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, directly behind the US and ahead ...

at the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

. After the 2017 season, the Padres added Castillo to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Castillo was called up and made his major league debut on June 2, 2018, and pitched a 1-2-3 inning with 3 strikeouts that night, including strikeouts of

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

all-star sluggers

Joey Votto Joseph Daniel Votto (born September 10, 1983) is a Canadian-American professional baseball first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Reds in 2007. He is the first Canadian MLB player ...

and

Eugenio Suarez Eugenio is an Italian and Spanish masculine given name deriving from the Greek ' Eugene'. The name is Eugénio in Portuguese and Eugênio in Brazilian Portuguese. The name's translated literal meaning is well born, or of noble status. Similar de ...

. He ended the season 3–3 with an ERA of 3.29 in 37 games. In innings, he struck out 52 batters. Castillo began the 2019 season on the 60-day injured list due to a left flexor strain. He only pitched in 2/3 of an inning for the Padres in 2019, allowing no runs and striking out two, before suffering an injury to his left middle finger and ending the season on the 60-day injured list. Due to the

2020 Major League Baseball season The 2020 Major League Baseball season began on July 23 and ended on September 27 with only 60 games amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The full 162-game regular season was planned to begin on March 26, but the pandemic caused Major League Baseball (ML ...

being shortened to 60 games because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Castillo ended up missing the entire season due to a left lat strain and a torn ligament in his hand. On March 4, 2021, it was announced that Castillo would require

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

after exiting a simulated game on March 2 because of forearm tightness. On March 6, Castillo was placed on the 60-day injured list. On November 30, 2021, Castillo was non-tendered by the Padres, making him a free agent. On January 14, 2022, Castillo re-signed with the Padres. He had his contract selected on August 23, 2022. On November 18, Castillo signed a one-year contract with the Padres, avoiding arbitration. Castillo began the 2023 season with the Triple–A

El Paso Chihuahuas The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in El Paso, Texas, and play their home games at Southwest University ...

. In 22 contests for El Paso, he struggled to a 9.82 ERA with 22 strikeouts and 2 saves in innings pitched. In his only appearance for San Diego, he only recorded one out while surrendering four runs on two hits and two walks with no strikeouts. On July 20, 2023, Castillo was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

following

Robert Suárez Robert Alexander Suárez Subero (born March 1, 1991) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Profe ...

's activation from the injured list.

Miami Marlins

On July 25, 2023, Castillo was traded to the

in exchange for cash considerations. On August 10, he was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to the Triple–A

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Jose 1996 births Living people Arizona League Padres players El Paso Chihuahuas players Fort Wayne TinCaps players Gulf Coast Rays players Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp players Lake Elsinore Storm players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Navegantes del Magallanes players San Antonio Missions players San Diego Padres players Baseball players from Valencia, Venezuela Tri-City Dust Devils players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States World Baseball Classic players of Venezuela 2017 World Baseball Classic players