Rusney Castillo Peraza (born July 9, 1987) is a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

Mariachis de Guadalajara The Mariachis de Guadalajara (English: Guadalajara Mariachis) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Their home ballpark is Estadio Panamericano, and has a capacity of 16,500 people. The Mariachis were e ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

and in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) for the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...

. Listed at and , he bats and throws right handed. Castillo was born in

Ciego de Ávila Ciego de Ávila City () is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. The city has a population of about 497.000, in a municipality of 756,373. Geography Ciego de Ávila lies on the Carretera Central highway ...

, a city located in the central part of Cuba and the capital of

Ciego de Ávila Province Ciego de Ávila () is one of the provinces of Cuba, and was previously part of Camagüey Province. Its capital is Ciego de Ávila, which lies on the Carretera Central (central highway), and the second city is Morón, further north. The provinc ...

. At age 22, he showed enough skills to land a spot on '' Los Tigres'', the nickname for Ciego de Ávila's club in the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, SNB) is the primary domestic professional baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. ...

. Additionally, he played with the

Cuba national baseball team The Cuba national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Cuba'') represents Cuba at regional and international levels. The team is made up from the most professional players from the Cuban national baseball system. Cuba has been des ...

in several international tournaments, including the

2011 Baseball World Cup The 2011 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 39th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

and the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

, before defecting from Cuba in December 2013 to pursue an MLB career. In August 2014, Castillo signed a $72.5 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, which ran through the 2020 season.

Cuban baseball career

Castillo joined the Ciego de Ávila team in the 2008–2009 season, playing for them through 2012–2013. Used sparingly during his first two seasons, he played only 28 games in his rookie year and 44 as a sophomore, while hitting averages of .349 (15-for-43) and .303 (30-for-99), respectively. He spent most of his time playing second base,

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

, and the

corner outfield An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catc ...

positions, until becoming a solid

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

in the years to come. His breakout season came in 2010–2011, when he got a major boost in playing time and posted a .320 average with 22

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 95

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in 107 games, including 75

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

, 27 doubles, five

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, and a league-lead 32

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s. Castillo enjoyed another fine season in 2011–2012, as he batted .342 and slugged .574 in 113 games, stealing 27 bases and collecting a very solid .408

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

, while driving in 84 runs and scoring 101 times. In addition, he topped the league with 37 doubles, ranked 13th in batting average and tied for third in stolen bases. Castillo played his last season in 2012–2013. But this time his batting average declined to .274, as well as his games played (68), going 64-for-234 with six homers, 29 RBI and 15 stolen bases.

International competition

In between, Castillo gained prominence as a member of the Cuba national baseball team. With

Yoenis Céspedes Yoenis Céspedes Milanés (born October 18, 1985), nicknamed "La Potencia" (The Power), is a Cuban-born professional baseball outfielder. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut on March 28, 2012, for the Oakland Athletics, and has also p ...

and

Leonys Martín Leonys Martín Tápanes (born March 6, 1988), nicknamed "Ikadi", is a Cuban-American professional baseball center fielder who is currently a free agent. Born in Cuba, he played locally for Villa Clara of the Cuban National Series, and for the C ...

gone from Cuba, he became the regular center fielder for his team in the

held in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Castillo was named to the tournament’s All-Star team after leading the World Cup in batting average (.512) and slugging (.854) while ranking fourth in on-base percentage (.524). Overall, he went 21-for-41 with four doubles, two triples and two homers in 10 games. Castillo also played in the

hosted by

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, where he hit .273 (6-for-22) and slugged .318 with a .333 OBP. In the same year, he played in the World Port Tournament in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Then, in 2012 he appeared in exhibition baseball series held at

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and Cuba, where he faced the U.S. College National Team, in preparation for the upcoming

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike ...

. Castillo was originally slated to be part of the team, but he did not make the final cut. According to an official statement released, he was suspended for trying to defect. As the ''

Havana Times ''Havana Times'' is an independent Cuban blog and online magazine founded in 2008. The online publication is edited in Nicaragua. Most of its contributors live in Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo. There are also Cuban contributors in Venez ...

'' reports, a pattern has developed especially over the last decade whereby Cuban baseball stars and top prospects attempt to leave the island illegally and are caught and suspended from playing in the Cuban league. With no choice left to them to continue in their profession, they then succeed at a future attempt escaping to a neighboring country. Finally, Castillo attempted to leave Cuba once more, and was successful. In early June 2014, he was granted official

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

status by Major League Baseball after establishing permanent residency in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

and being unblocked by the

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...

Professional career

Boston Red Sox

On August 23, 2014, the

signed Castillo to a seven-year, $72.5 million contract. Castillo was given the jersey number, 38, which he wore in Cuba. Castillo made his major league debut on September 17, 2014, as the Red Sox starting center fielder; he collected his first MLB hit in the fourth inning, a single off of

Francisco Liriano Francisco Liriano Casillas (born October 26, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, ...

. Castillo appeared in a total of 10 games with the 2014 Red Sox, batting 12-for-36 (.333) with two home runs and six RBIs. Castillo started the 2015 season with the Triple-A

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

, where he appeared in 40 games, batting .282 with three home runs and 17 RBIs. He was called up to Boston in the second half of May; he appeared in 80 MLB games for the Red Sox, batting .253 with five home runs and 29 RBIs. Castillo spent most of the 2016 season with Triple-A Pawtucket; he made only nine appearances with Boston, one in April and eight in June, batting 2-for-8 (.250) without a home run or RBI. Overall, in parts of three seasons with Boston (2014–2016), Castillo appeared in 99 MLB games, batting .262 with 7 home runs and 35 RBIs. Defensively, he had a .975

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

in 89 games played in the outfield.

Minor leagues

On June 18, 2016, Castillo was put on waivers by the Red Sox; he cleared waivers on June 20 and was outrighted to Pawtucket, where he spent the rest of the season. He appeared in a total of 103 Triple-A games during 2016, batting .263 with two home runs and 34 RBIs. During the 2017 season, Castillo played in 87 games for Triple-A Pawtucket, batting .314 with 15 home runs and 43 RBIs. He did not play any MLB games with Boston, nor was he added to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

. Castillo remained with Triple-A Pawtucket for the 2018 season, appearing in 117 games while batting .319 with five home runs and 59 RBIs. For the 2018 season, he was named to the International League All-Star Team, and his .319 average led the International League. After being a non-roster invitee to Boston's 2019

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

, Castillo started the 2019 season as the oldest player on Pawtucket's roster. With the 2019 PawSox, Castillo appeared in 120 games, batting .278 with 17 home runs and 64 RBIs. After the 2019 season, Castillo did not exercise an opt-out clause in his contract, thus remaining in Boston's minor league system for 2020, the final season of his seven-year contract with the Red Sox. He was again a non-roster invitee to Boston's spring training, but did not play outside of spring training, due to the 2020 minor league season being cancelled. On October 28, 2020, Castillo's contract with the Red Sox expired, making him a free agent. Overall, in five seasons with the Pawtucket Red Sox (2015–2019), Castillo appeared in 467 minor league games, batting .293 with 42 home runs and 217 RBIs. Defensively, he had a .990 fielding percentage in 423 games played in the outfield.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On January 9, 2021, Castillo signed a $600,000 contract with the

. On April 23, 2021, Castillo made his NPB debut. Castillo played in 33 games, hitting .225 with 1 home run and 3 RBI's. He became a free agent following the 2021 season.

Washington Nationals

On January 20, 2022, Castillo signed a minor league contract with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. Castillo was released by the Nationals organization on March 29.

Long Island Ducks

On April 22, 2022, Castillo signed with the

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "partne ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

. Castillo slashed .278/.329/.366 with 3 home runs and 24 RBI in 57 games before he was released on July 7.

Staten Island FerryHawks

On July 11, 2022, Castillo signed with the

Staten Island FerryHawks The Staten Island FerryHawks are an American minor-league professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Staten Island. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner leag ...

of the

. Castillo played in 43 games for Staten Island, batting .325/.385/.383 with 3 home runs, 23 RBI, and 4 stolen bases. He became a free agent after the season.

Mariachis de Guadalajara

On March 28, 2023, Castillo signed with the

of the

Personal life

Castillo is married, and has one daughter. In early 2018, he was able to return to Cuba for the first time since his defection. As of the 2018 season, Castillo lived in Boston, commuting to home games played in

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls ...

, about a one-hour drive. In April 2019, he put up for sale a home he owned in

Pinecrest, Florida Pinecrest is a Village (United States), suburban village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census recorded a population of 18,223; as of 2019, this has increased by over five percent to an e ...

, with an asking price of $3,953,000.

References

External links

Cuban National Series statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Rusney 1987 births Boston Red Sox players Criollos de Caguas players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Puerto Rico Defecting Cuban baseball players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente outfielders Living people Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Pawtucket Red Sox players People from Ciego de Ávila Surprise Saguaros players Tigres de Ciego de Avila players Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games bronze medalists for Cuba Staten Island FerryHawks players Baseball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Águilas de Mexicali players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Mexico Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Japan

Cuban baseball career

International competition

Professional career

Boston Red Sox

Minor leagues

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Washington Nationals

Long Island Ducks

Staten Island FerryHawks

Mariachis de Guadalajara

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading

External links