Juan Camilo (minors01)

Juan Alberto Camilo Castro

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.

• Born June 24, 1976 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional D.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Juan Camilo was a minor league outfielder from 1996-2006, then went to play in Italy.

Camilo debuted in 1996 with the DSL Athletics and hit .241. He spent most of 1997 with the AZL Athletics, batting .346/.466/.581 with 41 walks, 48 runs and 47 RBI in 50 games. He also was 3 for 13 for the Southern Oregon Timberjacks. He was 5th in the Arizona League in average and joined Kevin Burford and Jesus Basabe as the AZL's All-Star outfielders. Baseball America rated him as the #8 prospect in the circuit. In '98, Juan split time between Southern Oregon (.343/.441/.583, 25 R, 29 RBI in 31 G) and the Visalia Oaks (.223/.337/.318 in 85 G).

Camilo had a batting line of .284/.367/.537 for the 1999 Oaks, with a career-best 17 home runs in only 285 at-bats. The Detroit Tigers took him in the minor league portion of the 1999 Rule V Draft. In 2000, he hit .247/.330/.389 for the Lakeland Tigers. He split 2001 between Lakeland (.301/.393/.528 in 55 G) and the Erie SeaWolves (.282/.322/.464 in 33 G). During 2002, the 25/26-year-old repeated with Lakeland (.293/.393/.498 in 81 G) and Erie (.205/.274/.397 in 45 G). Overall, he had 31 doubles, 9 triples, 61 walks and 122 strikeouts; he also stole 30 bases in 38 tries.

The Santo Domingo native was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies before the 2003 season. He split time that year between the Clearwater Threshers (.256/.323/.377 in 103 G), the Reading Phillies (.172/.254/.281 in 21 G) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons (6 for 18, 2 2B, BB, 7 R), finally reaching AAA in his 8th pro season. He next signed with the Montréal Expos, playing in 2004 for the Harrisburg Senators (.262/.341/.421 in 117 G) and the Brevard County Manatees 91 for 4).

For 2005, the veteran flyhawk signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks but got into only 8 games for the Tucson Sidewinders (4 for 20, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 R, 3 RBI) and was let go. He then went south to the Mexican League, batting .307/.423/.543 with 15 homers for the Tabasco Olmecas. He split 2006 between two clubs in Mexico, the Oaxaca Warriors and Monclova Steelers, batting a combined .330/.390/.457 in 51 contests.

In 11 minor league seasons, Camilo had over 100 home runs and 100 steals with an OPS of 715 (discounting 1996).

Camilo signed with Italy's Nettuno club for 2007. He hit .323/.368/.535 with 8 homers and 38 RBI in 40 regular-season games, then went 26 for 59 with 3 more homers, 10 runs and 7 RBI in 14 postseason contests. He led the Italian Baseball League in home runs (one ahead of Willie Vasquez and Shaun Skrehot and RBI, was 4th in OPS and third in slugging (behind Giuseppe Mazzanti and Laidel Chapellí. He joined Mario Chiarini and Leonardo Zileri as the All-Star outfielders.

Juan remained productive in 2008 (.306/.421/.456, 30 R, a league-leading 15 2B in 42 G) then hit .316/.466/.579 in the postseason with 14 runs and 4 homers in 16 games. In the 2008 European Cup's Regensburg phase, he went 4 for 18 with two walks, a double, triple and 8 runs. He tied Benjamin Dille for second in the event in runs, one behind Simon Kudernatsch. He then was 2 for 8 with four walks, a double and two runs in the 2008 European Cup Final Four. Both of his runs came in Nettuno's 3-2 victory in the championship game.

In 2009, Camilo batted .338/.445/.575 with 15 doubles, 7 home runs, 41 runs, 31 walks and 14 steals in 16 tries over 42 games for Nettuno. He finished 5th in average, tied Richard Austin for third in homers, was second to Eddy Garabito in runs, tied Manny Alexander for fifth in walks, again led in doubles and tied Garabito for second in swipes, behind Alexander. He was 2 for 9 with a double and two runs in the 2009 European Cup Final Four.

Camilo moved to Parma for 2010 and batted .325/.388/.475 with 30 runs, 34 RBI and 13 steals (never caught). He finished second in RBI (behind Carlos Duran), 7th in runs, tied with Lino Connell for third in steals, 9th in average and 5th in slugging.

Sources

• 1998-2005 Baseball Almanacs
• Scout.com
• CEB website
• Italian Baseball and Softball Federation
• Baseball.it