Alí Castillo

Alí Jesus Castillo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 180 lb.

• Born June 19, 1989 in Maracaibo, Zulia Venezuela

BR register page

Biographical Information

Infielder Alí Castillo has played four seasons at AAA through 2019 and has played for the Venezuelan national team.

Castillo originally signed with the New York Yankees. He hit .288/.375/.374 for the 2008 DSL Yankees 1 and drove in 36 while scoring 42 times in 68 games. He fielded .942 at third base, his main position. He returned to the same team in 2009 and batted .319/.396/.503 with 9 triples and 40 runs in 51 games, going 10-for-11 in steal attempts. He tied Austin Jackson and Ericson Leonora for 4th in the Yankees farm chain in three-baggers. In the Dominican Summer League, he tied Leonora and Daurys Mercedes for 5th in triples; he was also 5th in slugging and 9th in OPS (between Edison Sanchez and Geancarlo Mendez.

In 2010, he still was not called up to the US, splitting time between the DSL Yankees 1 and DSL Yankees 2, hitting .333/.419/.472 with 35 runs in 56 games while playing every position except catcher and pitcher. Had he qualified, he would have been 7th in the DSL in average. He played in 2011 for the DSL Yankees 1 (.286/.333/.357 in 6 G) and finally came stateside with the Staten Island Yankees (.224/.264/.289 in 49 G).

The Zulia native hit .307/.381/.438 for the 2012 Charleston RiverDogs. The utility man played most at second base, where he fielded .992. Had he qualified, he would have been 8th in the South Atlantic League in average. He made his Venezuelan Winter League debut with his hometown Águilas del Zulia, going 1 for 1 with a run. He split 2013 between the Tampa Yankees (.234/.297/.295 in 73 G) and Trenton Thunder (.218/.289/.282 in 46 G). He hit .381 with six RBI in six playoff games for Trenton, though, and was named Eastern League postseason MVP. As a utility infielder for Zulia that winter, he batted .267/.299/.297. He was 2 for 13 with a homer in the postseason.

With the 2014 Thunder, he hit .254/.318/.327 while fielding .973 as their regular shortstop. He stole 17 bases in 22 tries. He tied for 10th among Yankees minor leaguers in swipes and he led Eastern League shortstops in fielding percentage. He played very well in the winter for the Águilas at .305/.346/.408 with 43 runs and 16 SB (6 CS) in 59 contests while splitting time between 2B, SS, 3B and LF almost evenly. He led the league in both runs (3 ahead of Félix Pérez) and steals (2 more than Maikol Gonzalez). He hit .250/.361/.288 in the semifinals.

Castillo split 2015 between the Thunder (.269/.320/.310, 25 SB in 68 G) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (.367/.398/.468 in 20 G). He was 6th in the Yankees chain with 29 swipes and tied Bryson Miles and Mike Tauchman for 6th in the EL. That winter, he only was 1-for-3 in steals while hitting .301/.342/.388 for Zulia.

A free agent, he was signed by the San Francisco Giants and saw time with the [[Richmond Flying Squirrels (.317/.359/.392 in 66 G) and Sacramento River Cats (.309/.342/.354 in 49 G). Among Giants minor leaguers with 400+ AB, only Miguel Gómez had a higher average. He hit .255/.318/.306 for Zulia in the regular season, .333/.333/.333 with 5 runs in 5 games in the semifinals and .286/.286/.429 in 4 games as they won the finals. He was 4 for 16 with a double, two runs and a RBI in the 2017 Caribbean Series. He formed an All-Castillo right side of the infield with 1B Jose Castillo.

In 2017, he did not do as well for Sacramento (.254/.284/.332 in 70 G), Richmond (.297/.336/.327 in 34 G) and the San Jose Giants (2 for 13, 2B). With the Águilas, he hit a splendid .408/.424/.488 in the regular season. He did not play enough to win the batting title or he would have beat out Henry Urrutia's .385. He hit .313/.353/.438 in the semifinals and .250/.286/.300 in the finals but Zulia did not repeat.

Alí was back with Richmond in 2018, hitting .255/.303/.350 in a utility role. In the winter, he again put on a show at .335/.373/.437 with 40 runs in 60 games. He was 5th in average (between Alejandro De Aza and Cesar Valera) and 2nd with 82 hits (2 behind Harold Castro) and in runs (one behind Delmon Young). He was also 3rd in steals, behind Cade Gotta and Ezequiel Carrera. He remained hot in the semifinals (.364/.375/.432) and hit .250/.280/.250 in the finals as Zulia won. In the 2019 Caribbean Series, he hit .250/.294/.250.

In 2019, he moved on to the Philadelphia Phillies chain. The veteran played every position except catcher and first base for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (.316/.353/.439 in 113 G) and Reading Fightin Phils (.373/.448/.569 in 16 G). He tied Austin Listi for 4th among Phillies farmhands in runs (67), led in hits (5 ahead of Alec Bohm), tied Malquin Canelo for 6th in doubles (27), tied for 7th in triples (5), was 6th in RBI (66) and led the chain in average (.322; Bohm was next at .305).

He made the Venezuelan squad for the 2019 Premier 12. He hit .333/.333/.500 and played error-free ball as their main second baseman, including three hits in their lone win (over Puerto Rico.