Ryan Alexander Casteel (born June 6, 1991) is an American

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

in the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

organization.

Career

Casteel attended Bradley Central High School in Cleveland, Tennessee. After graduating, he went unselected in the 2009 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft under the belief he would attend the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

. Though he had previously accepted a scholarship to attend the

and play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Collegi ...

on a scholarship, Casteel rejected the scholarship, and enrolled at Cleveland State Community College, also in Cleveland. This way, Casteel would be eligible for the MLB Draft earlier. The

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

selected Casteel in the 17th round of the

2010 MLB Draft The 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team pic ...

. He began his professional career with the Casper Ghosts of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, and had a .305

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

. The next year, he had a .273 batting average with the

Tri-City Dust Devils The Tri-City Dust Devils are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Pasco, Washington. The Dust Devils are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels. Tri-City plays their home gam ...

of the

Class A-Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

. In 2012, he played for the Asheville Tourists of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, and batted .279. In 2013, he played for the Modesto Nuts of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

California League. He was named a midseason All-Star and the California League's Catcher of the Year. He then played for the Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League (ABL) for the 2013–14 ABL season. Casteel played in the ABL All-Star Game and won the Helms Award as the ABL's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. In 2014, Casteel played for the

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

, where he was named an All-Star. After the 2014 season, the Rockies assigned Casteel to the

Salt River Rafters The Salt River Rafters are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick near Scottsdale, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fi ...

. Casteel spent the 2015 season with the

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL ...

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

. In December 2016, Casteel signed a minor league contract with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

. On February 7, 2018, Casteel signed with the

Lancaster Barnstormers The Lancaster Barnstormers (colloquially known as the Stormers) are an American professional baseball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

He became a free agent following the 2018 season. On January 25, 2019, Casteel signed a minor league contract with the

. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020. On March 14, 2021, Casteel re-signed with the Braves organization on a minor league contract. He was assigned to the Braves AAA affiliate the Gwinnett Stripers.

Personal life

Casteel is married to his wife Bethany.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casteel, Ryan 1991 births People from Chattanooga, Tennessee Baseball players from Tennessee Baseball catchers Cleveland State Cougars baseball players Casper Ghosts players Tri-City Dust Devils players Asheville Tourists players Modesto Nuts players Tulsa Drillers players Melbourne Aces players Living people Salt River Rafters players Albuquerque Isotopes players Minor league baseball players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Arkansas Travelers players Lancaster Barnstormers players Naranjeros de Hermosillo players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente catchers