Jason Michael Castro (born June 18, 1987) is an American former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

. He 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 Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins,

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

, and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

. After playing

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

at Stanford University, he was selected by the Astros in the first round of the

2008 Major League Baseball draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first ro ...

(#10 overall). Castro made his big league debut with Houston in 2010. He was selected to the 2013

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

, serving as a reserve catcher, which made him the first Astro All-Star elected to play for the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

Early life

Castro was born in Castro Valley, California, and played high school baseball at

Castro Valley High School Castro Valley High School is located in the unincorporated suburban community of Castro Valley, California, United States. It is a State school#United States high school for grades 9 to 12. Named a National Exemplary School in 1984–85 and 1988� ...

. He played junior varsity basketball at Castro Valley High School for the legendary Coach Burns. Castro attended Stanford University, where he played

for the Stanford Cardinal. He was named the club's most valuable player his junior year. After his sophomore season in 2007, he played collegiate summer baseball for the

Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox The Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox, or Y-D Red Sox, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Red Sox play thei ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he batted .341 in 39 games, was named the starting

for the East Division All-Star team, and helped lead the Red Sox to the league championship.

Minor leagues

Castro was selected by the Astros in the first round (tenth overall) of the

. Castro started in Single-A for the

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats (often shortened to Cats) are a professional independent baseball team based in Troy, New York. The Tri-City name refers to the three nearby cities of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy which make up New York State's Capital D ...

in 2008. He was promoted to play for the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned by ...

on June 7, 2009 after playing in Advanced-A for the

Lancaster JetHawks The Lancaster JetHawks were a baseball team located in Lancaster, California. They were named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and played their home games at The Hangar. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League ...

and played his first game for the team on June 10. He also played for the United States national team in the

2009 Baseball World Cup The 2009 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 38th 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 t ...

in Nettuno, Italy. Castro was selected to play for the United States team in the 2009 All-Star Futures Game in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. In the game, he threw out a runner and hit a three-run

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 ...

. He was ranked 53rd on Baseball America's list of "Top 100 Prospects" in 2009. Shortly after the Futures Game, the Astros sent Castro home early from the Arizona Fall League so that he could rest for the 2010 season.

Major leagues

Houston Astros

On June 20, 2010, the Astros promoted Castro to the MLB from the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). ...

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

. He made his MLB debut on June 22, 2010, at

Minute Maid Park Minute Maid Park is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 as the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. It has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 ...

against the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

. He singled off

Tim Lincecum Timothy Leroy Lincecum ( ; born June 15, 1984), nicknamed "The Freak", "The Franchise", "The Freaky Franchise" and "Big Time Timmy Jim", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San ...

in his first career at-bat. Castro hit his first major league home run on June 24, 2010, against

Matt Cain Matthew Thomas Cain (born October 1, 1984), nicknamed "The Horse", "Big Daddy", "Big Sugar" and "Cainer", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the San Francisco Giants ...

. On March 2, 2011, while playing in a spring training game against the Detroit Tigers, Castro suffered a knee injury while running to first base. He underwent surgery two days later on March 4 to repair his torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

and a damaged meniscus. As a result, he missed the entire 2011 season. On June 13, 2012, while pinch-hitting for Xavier Cedeño, Castro grounded out to Joaquin Arias to record the last out for Matt Cain's perfect game. He played 87 games in the 2012 season, finishing the year with a .257 batting average, 6 home runs and 29 RBI. Jason Castro catching a ball in the dirt spring 2015

Jason Castro catching a ball in the dirt spring 2015

On May 20, 2013, Castro was awarded the honor of being

Player of the Week. He earned his first All-Star Game selection that season as a reserve catcher, but did not appear in the game. He led the Astros with a .350 OBP. He set club catcher records with 63 runs, 18 home runs (16 of which were hit as a catcher, tying John Bateman's club record — two were while playing as a DH), and a .485 slugging percentage. In September, he had surgery to remove a cyst from his knee and missed the rest of the season. He played 120 games that year. After the 2013 season, Castro completed the degree that he had started at Stanford. When he was drafted, he was 25 credits shy of the degree. He had returned to Stanford in the 2010 offseason to begin taking the rest of the courses, but he was delayed by rehabilitation from his 2011 injury. Before the 2014 season, Castro signed a one-year contract with the Astros worth $2.45 million. Before the 2015 season, he signed another one-year contract with the Astros, worth $4 million. In 2015, he batted .211. In 2016, he batted .210.

Minnesota Twins

On November 30, 2016, Castro signed a three-year contract worth $24.5 million with the Minnesota Twins. In his first season with the Twins, Castro hit .242 with 10 home runs and 47 RBIs in 110 games. On May 16, 2018, it was revealed that Castro was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee, which required season-ending surgery. In 2018 he batted .143. In 2019, Castro played in only 79 games for the Twins due to sharing time with

Mitch Garver Mitchell Lynn Garver (born January 15, 1991) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins. Early life Garver was born on January 15, 19 ...

, who had a breakout year. He hit .232 with 13 home runs and 30 RBIs.

Los Angeles Angels

On January 7, 2020, Castro signed a one-year, $6.85 million deal with the

. On July 24, 2020, Castro made his Angels debut as a Opening Day starting catcher. With the Angels, he batted .192.

San Diego Padres

On August 30, 2020, the Angels traded Castro to the

for Gerardo Reyes. In 27 games split between the Angels and Padres, Castro batted .188/.293/.375 with two home runs and 9 RBI in 80 at-bats.

Return to Houston

On January 22,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, Castro signed a 2-year, $7 million contract to return to Houston. In the 2021 regular season, he batted .235, and .180 against left-handlers. On defense, he caught stealing 13% of runners, catching 4 runners while yielding 27 stolen bases. On October 19, in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) versus 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 eigh ...

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

, Castro singled home

Carlos Correa Carlos Javier Correa Oppenheimer Jr. (born September 22, 1994) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, who selected him first overall in th ...

in the top of the ninth inning off

Nathan Eovaldi Nathan Edward Eovaldi ( ; born February 13, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Ra ...

for the game-winning run. The final score was 9–2, tying the series at 2–2. Prior to Game 4 of the

2021 World Series The 2021 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2021 season. The 117th World Series was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves and the American League (AL) champion H ...

, Castro was removed from the Astros roster due to COVID-19 protocols, and was replaced for the rest of the series by Garrett Stubbs. On June 29,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, Castro, along with

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

Justin Verlander Justin Brooks Verlander ( ; born February 20, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. From Manakin-Sabot, ...

, helped lead a 2–0 shutout of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. Castro's two-run home run supplied all the offense in the game while tripling his RBI season total from one to three. On July 1, 2022, the Astros placed Castro on the 10-day injured list due to left knee discomfort. On August 2, the Astros announced that Castro underwent surgery on the left knee and would miss the remainder of the season. This made his home run his last at-bat. Due to injury, Castro was unable to make an appearance for the Astros in the 2022 postseason but still earned his first career

championship ring A championship ring or premiership ring is a ring presented to members of winning teams in North American professional sports leagues, and college tournaments. Championship rings are mostly confined to North American sports. Since only one ...

as the Astros went on to win the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

against the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. Following the World Series, Castro became a free agent.

Retirement

On December 2, 2022, Castro announced on Twitter that he was retiring from Major League Baseball. Upon his retirement, Castro ranked as the Astros' career leader among catchers in home runs (71), and his 717 games at the position ranked third behind Alan Ashby and

Brad Ausmus Bradley David Ausmus (; born April 14, 1969) is an American former professional baseball manager and catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). In his 18-year MLB playing career, Ausmus played for the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Houston Ast ...

Personal life

Castro married Maris Perlman in late 2012. They met at Stanford, where Perlman played lacrosse. The couple founded Castro's Kids, a Houston-area literacy program. The couple has three children, 2 boys and 1 girl.

References

External links

Jason Castro
Stanford University Player Profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Jason 1987 births Living people American baseball players of Mexican descent American League All-Stars Baseball players from California Corpus Christi Hooks players Houston Astros players Lancaster JetHawks players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball catchers Minnesota Twins players North Shore Honu players Oklahoma City RedHawks players People from Castro Valley, California Peoria Saguaros players Round Rock Express players Salt River Rafters players San Diego Padres players Sportspeople from Castro Valley, California Stanford Cardinal baseball players Sugar Land Skeeters players Tri-City ValleyCats players United States national baseball team players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Anchorage Bucs players