Jose Castro (minors04)

Jose H. Castro

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 155 lb.
• High School Miami Jackson High School

• Born May 5, 1958 in Havana, Cuba

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Infielder Jose Castro played minor league baseball from 1977 to 1990, the last ten seasons in AAA.

Castro was drafted in the 27th round of the 1977 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He made his pro debut with the Auburn Phillies that year, hitting .246/.316/.314. In '78, he batted .280/.363/.402 for the Spartanburg Phillies; he fielded .909 at short, his main position, and .942 at second base. He placed fourth in the Western Carolinas League in average. In 1979, he split time between the Peninsula Pilots (.273/.331/.424 in 66 G) and Reading Phillies (.303/.338/.355 in 20 G). The next year, Jose spent all year at Reading, batting .310/.369/.411. Now a second baseman/third baseman, he was fourth in the Eastern League in average, just behind Ryne Sandberg. He failed to make the EL All-Star team as Steve Curry was picked at second and Nick Esasky at third.

Castro reached the AAA Oklahoma City 89ers in 1981 in the Phillies chain and hit .303/.371/.475 but didn't get called to The Show as Manny Trillo held down second in Philadelphia. Castro was then traded to the Chicago White Sox for two big leaguers, Dewey Robinson and Gary Holle. In 1982, he hit .263/.323/.402 for the Edmonton Trappers, with 30 doubles while being used as a 3B-OF.

In 1983, Jose fell to .250/.306/.375 even though Chicago moved their AAA farm team to Denver, CO, where offensive levels were higher. With the 1984 Denver Zephyrs, Castro hit .316/.396/.492 with 32 doubles. He played every infield position except shortstop as well as outfield. Castro was third in the 1984 American Association in average behind Tom Dunbar and Alan Knicely and was named the league's All-Star third baseman. He again was not called up, with Chicago using Vance Law at the hot corner. In his last year in the Chicago chain, Jose hit .240/~.335/.335 at age 27 with the Buffalo Bisons.

He bounced around his last five years, moving between the Toronto Blue Jays (1986-1987), Kansas City Royals (1988-1989), and finally Montreal Expos (1990) chains. In 1986, he hit .288/~.358/.436 for the Syracuse Chiefs. This time, Kelly Gruber was blocking his way to the bigs. With Syracuse in '87, Castro batted .277/~.351/.435, backing up Mike Sharperson at third. Moving on to the Royals chain, he had little chance of making it to the majors due to his age and the presence of Kevin Seitzer. He hit .270/.352/.408 for the 1988 Omaha Royals. Returning to Omaha in '89, he batted .248/~.303/.316. He wrapped up as a player early in 1990 with the Indianapolis Indians, batting .163/.281/.245 only in 19 games before moving to a coaching role.

After his playing career, Castro was a hitting coach for the Jamestown Expos in 1990 and Rockford Expos in 1991. He then coached hitters in the Florida Marlins system with the Erie Sailors (1992), Kane County Cougars (1993), Portland Sea Dogs (1994), Brevard County Manatees (1995-1998), and Portland again (1999-2001). Moving back to the Expos, Castro coached the Ottawa Lynx (2002) and Edmonton Trappers (2003). He then spent 2004-2007 in the San Diego Padres chain with the Mobile BayBears (2004) and Portland Beavers (2005-2007).

The next few years were a bit tumultuous. Castro joined the Seattle Mariners organization in 2008 as the minor league hitting coordinator. He was promoted to the major league staff on June 19th as the interim hitting coach where he remained for the rest of the year. Castro returned to his hitting coordinator role in 2009 and started 2010 in that position until he was moved to hitting coach of the Tacoma Rainiers on May 11th. Another change came on August 9th when Castro was named interim manager, replacing Daren Brown who was promoted to replace Don Wakamatsu as manager of the big league Mariners. In 2011 he returned to the minor league hitting coordinator post once again and stayed in the job through the 2012 season. Castro's next two coaching positions were one year gigs as minor league assistant hitting coordinator for the Kansas City Royals in 2013 and Quality Assurance Coach with the Chicago Cubs in 2014.

In 2015, he was named assistant hitting coach of the Atlanta Braves and stayed in this role through the 2022 season. In 2023, Castro was named hitting coach of the Chicago White Sox, but was released after the season amidst a variety of coaching changes.

Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
2010	Tacoma Rainiers	Pacific Coast League	13-15	7th	Seattle Mariners	League Champs	replaced Daren Brown on August 9