Was it dangerous for Diosdany Castillo? Was he scared?
“Of course,” he said. “People die in the middle of the ocean when they try to do that.”
Castillo defected from Cuba in mid-August of 2014. The only passenger on a small motorboat, he endured a 12-hour ordeal from his homeland to Cancun, Mexico.
In pursuit of a better life and opportunity, taking the risk was worth it for Castillo.
The RailCats on Friday signed the 28-year-old right-hander, who pitched seven seasons in the Cuban National Series and played for Cuba in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Castillo — with teammate Richard Castillo, a pitcher from Venezuela, serving as interpreter — spoke before the RailCats’ game against Winnipeg at the Steel Yard.
Castillo pitched for two teams in the Mexican League this season after establishing residency. He missed all of the 2015 season as he awaited the necessary paperwork. He recently began traveling back and forth between Mexico and Tampa, Fla., where he has been training as he attempts to establish residency in the United States.
The RailCats had been in touch with Castillo off and on over the course of the last couple of weeks. They flew him in from Florida on Wednesday, and he threw a simulated game on Thursday.
Castillo wasn’t hitting the 93-to-95 mph as the scouting report indicated from his time in the WBC, RailCats manager Greg Tagert said. But he did reach 88 to 90. He changed arm angles — sidearm, over the top, three-quarters — and demonstrated his five-pitch repertoire.
“We liked enough of what we saw. One way or another, we were going to make room for him,” Tagert said of Castillo, who will work out of the bullpen.
“We did see somebody who knew what he was doing.”
Indeed, Castillo has significant experience.
In Cuba, he went 23-15 with a 4.00 ERA and 25 saves in 183 games, all but one of them as a relief pitcher, from 2006 to 2013. His best season came in 2012, when he had a 1.55 ERA and 14 saves with 67 strikeouts in 87 innings.
Castillo was 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA as a starter in Mexico, last pitching a month ago.
With the documentation that allows him to play in Mexico about to expire, he has been actively seeking a team in the United States.
Castillo had several possibilities before choosing the RailCats. A friend from Puerto Rico knows RailCats pitching coach Alain Quijano, which helped make his decision easier.
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“He told me they’re a good team and they have a lot of Latin players,” Castillo said.
Before fleeing in August of 2014, Castillo reportedly had attempted to defect earlier in June but was thwarted by Cuban authorities. He then was removed from his Cuban league team and the national team pool.
Even though he turns 29 in November, Castillo still has lofty goals. And given his journey, why not?
“I want to see if I can make it to the big leagues,” Castillo said.
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff
Up next: Winnipeg (Kevin McGovern 4-2) at RailCats (Taylor Black 4-4), 7:10 p.m. Saturday, WEFM-FM 95.9