Ramón Castro

For other people with the same name, see Ramón Castro (disambiguation).

Ramón Castro
Castro in Spring Training with the Mets in 2007
Free Agent
Catcher
Born: March 1, 1976 (1976-03-01)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 27, 1999 for the Florida Marlins
Career statistics (through 2011)
Batting average	.237
Home runs	67
Runs batted in	217
Teams
Florida Marlins (1999–2004) New York Mets (2005–2009) Chicago White Sox (2009-2011)
Career highlights and awards

Ramón Abraham Castro (born March 1, 1976 in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) is a Major League Baseball catcher.

Professional career

Early career

On June 2 1994 Castro was selected by the Houston Astros in the first round (17th overall pick) of the Major League Baseball draft, becoming the first Puerto Rican to ever be drafted in the first round. He was traded to the Florida Marlins in 1998 for relief pitcher Jay Powell.

Florida Marlins

Castro made his major league debut on August 27, 1999 in a game against the Houston Astros. He spent 1999 and 2000 competing with Mike Redmond for playing time and, when Charles Johnson arrived in Florida, Castro spent most of the 2001 season in the minor leagues. In 2002 he was back in the majors but as a third option and, in 2003, he played behind Iván Rodríguez as the Marlins won the 2003 World Series. However, Castro did not appear in the series. In 2004 Rodríguez was gone, giving Castro his first opportunity as a starter but a .135 batting average and an early-June season-ending injury finished his time in Florida. Paul Lo Duca finished out the Marlins' catching duties for 2004. The Marlins released Castro in October 2004.

Castro is known as a good defensive catcher, but, despite showing occasional home run power has never displayed sufficient hitting skills to win a job as a starter, along with struggling with injuries throughout his career. While never hitting for a superior average, however, his hits are often well-timed.

New York Mets

In December 2004, Castro signed with the New York Mets. In 2005 he was backup catcher to Mike Piazza, with 41 RBIs in 209 at-bats, a career-best .244 batting average, and playing solid defense.

When Piazza became a free agent after the season, it looked like Castro might again get a chance to be a starter, but the Mets traded for Paul Lo Duca who previously had replaced Castro in Florida. Injuries further reduced his role in 2006, limiting him to 126 at-bats.

When Lo Duca left after the 2007 season, many fans called for Castro to start, but the job instead went to newcomer Brian Schneider. It was most likely due to his injury-riddled career, which became evident once more when he strained his hamstring late in spring training that year, missing the beginning of the season.

Chicago White Sox

On May 29, 2009, Ramon was traded to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Lance Broadway after Omir Santos won the backup job with the return of Brian Schneider from the DL.

On July 23, 2009, Castro became the 17th backstop in Major League Baseball history to catch a perfect game, receiving Mark Buehrle's second no-hitter. It was his first time catching for Buehrle, who stated afterwards that he did not shake off Castro at any time during the game.

On January 12, 2010, Castro re-signed with the Chicago White Sox on a 1 year $800,000 contract with a club option for 2011.

Personal life

Ramon Castro was raised in Sabana Puerto Rico. Since he was little he loved playing baseball. In high school he was the first Puerto Rican to be drafted by the Houston Astros. Recently he married Brenda Castro. They have three daughters: Mairym, age 14 (born December 21, 1995) Nathalie, age 10 (born July 15, 1999)and Miosotys, age 10 (born January 23, 2000). They are currently living in Miramar, Florida.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)