Adam Casillas

Adam Casillas

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.
• School Oral Roberts University
• High School St. Mary's High School

• Born July 30, 1965 in Stockton, CA USA
• Died January 29, 2016 in Tulsa, OK USA

Minors BR page

Biographical Information

Adam Casillas won batting titles in three different minor leagues.

After playing at Oral Roberts University, Casillas began his career with the unaffiliated Salt Lake City Trappers in 1987, hitting .385/.475/.481 with 45 runs and 44 RBI in 60 games. He was 4th in the Pioneer League in average behind Matt Huff, Frank Colston and Dave Nilsson and was second in OBP. He was left off the league All-Star team as Greg Vella was picked at 1B.

Following the season, his contract was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds. He spent 1988 with the Greensboro Hornets, hitting .285/.354/.373 with only 16 strikeouts in 316 AB. He hit .321/.440/.422 for the Cedar Rapids Reds in 1989 to lead the Midwest League in average by 21 points over Cesar Bernhardt and in OBP (29 points better than runner-up Greg Roth). He tied Jeff Branson for 10th in runs (70), was second with 146 hits (two behind Bernhardt), tied Branson for 5th in doubles (28), was 6th in RBI (69) and was second in walks (98, 3 behind Mike Fiore). He was named the MWL All-Star first baseman.

The following summer, he hit .336 for the Chattanooga Lookouts to beat out Frank Thomas for the Southern League hitting crown by 13 points. He had a .439 OBP and .437 slugging for Chattanooga, then was 8 for 25 with 3 doubles and 8 walks for the Nashville Sounds, making it to his peak of AAA. He led Reds farmhands in average and OBP and was second to Scott Pose in walks. In the SL, he was second to Thomas in OBP (by .048), 4th in OPS (trailing only Thomas, John Vander Wal and Jeff Conine despite just three home runs), tied for 10th in doubles (27, even with Thomas and Wayne Busby) and tied for 8th in walks (76). He was named a SL All-Star outfielder alongside Brian McRae, Bobby Moore and Terrel Hansen. It was an odd pick as he played just 25 games in the outfield; Conine was picked at 1B and Thomas only made it as a utility infielder.

Casillas started in the Nashville outfield in 1991 but had mediocre numbers at the plate (.275/.348/.365) as his career stalled. He moved on to the Kansas City Royals organization in 1992 and spent two summers in their chain. He hit .327/.441/.458 in 49 games for the 1992 Memphis Chicks and .307/.359/.356 in 89 contests for the Omaha Royals. He was 6th in the 1992 American Association in average, between Chuck Carr and Al Martin. In 1993, he produced at a .304/.386/.431 clip with 33 doubles and only 18 strikeouts for Memphis. He tied Jim Bowie and Jose Olmeda for second in the league in doubles, two behind Jerry Wolak. He was also 9th in OBP (between Ozzie Timmons and Darren Bragg) and 5th in average (between Wolak and Carlos Delgado).

Moving south of the border, he was with the Monterrey Industriales in 1994 and won the Mexican League batting title at .367, .005 ahead of runner-up Johnny Monell Sr.. He was among the OBP leaders, trailing Eddie Castro and Hector Villanueva and also had 8 triples, just two shy of leader Manny Francois. He was with the Texas Rangers during spring training as a replacement player before the 1995 strike ended. In 1995, he batted .356/.432/.445 with 82 runs in 102 games for the Reynosa Broncos, finishing third in average behind Ty Gainey and Juan Canizalez. He was third in runs, 7 behind Luis Arredondo and one behind Cornelio Garcia.

In 1,036 minor league games, Casillas had batted .324/.413/.422, showing great contact and on-base skills but a noted lack of power (29 career home runs) for a 1B-OF. He struck out just 190 times in 4,109 at-bats.

Primary Sources

• 1988-1996 Baseball Almanacs
• 1989, 1991 and 1995 Baseball Guides
• The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros