From rushed to discarded to valued, Miguel Castro now a top pitching asset for Orioles - Sun

[O's are Legends]

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Miguel Castro, a self-described observer, watches every move fellow Dominican right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez makes, soaking in his routine and trying to create a career that long and prosperous for himself.

"Did I talk to him about it? No, not really," Jiménez said. "I bet he doesn't want to even remember all those things that he went through. So we don't even talk about that. If you look at it in a good way, he's going to take that as a wake-up call and he's going to use it to his advantage. He knows how difficult it is to be a major league baseball player, even when he has that kind of talent. He throws 100 miles per hour with sink, a slider, a changeup. And even with all that, he had to go through that."

"Those experiences are reminders, but at the same time, I'm trying to live in the present and the opportunity that's right now, that's presenting itself, and trying to take advantage," Castro said, via team interpreter Ramón Alarcón. "Trying to give it everything I have and the opportunity that I've been given. That's what I've been working on."

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"From the beginning, when you see an arm like that and a body like that and that kind of athleticism, you know you have a chance to mold something pretty good," Orioles director of player development Brian Graham said.

"It was basically to refine his delivery and get him on track both mentally and physically," Graham said. "He came to us with some major league experience, but he wasn't really consistent with anything he did. The key guy down there was [Florida and Latin American pitching coordinator] Dave Schmidt, who worked with his delivery and kind of developed his pitches — basically what he did was develop his pitches."

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Given all Castro had been through, Graham said it wasn't a tough sell to get the right-hander to go to Florida instead of joining a high-minors affiliate immediately.

"Because it was a change of scenery for him and it was basically a new life, I think Castro was very receptive to the suggestions that Dave Schmidt made and some of the adjustments he made, in terms of adding the breaking ball, refining it and the delivery itself," Graham said. "Dave did a really nice job with the overall pitching transformation.”

Castro credits Schmidt and special assignment pitching instructor Ramón Martinez with ironing out a delivery that had struggled to find consistency — "trying to be in the same position and stay on top of it," he said.

"It's a great testament to having a program," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "I think he really knows that we have his best interest in mind. We've put him on a program. Everything we've told him is going to happen has happened. He's in a good place, I can tell; mentally, physically. A lot of people miss — you see this big strapping guy, you miss a lot of things about him. He's a sharp guy, he watches the game, he's very competitive, he ain't scared and he wants it. He's willing to do whatever it takes. He don't want to go back down, and he's willing to do whatever."

I'm sure when it comes to observing Ubaldo, it's more in preparation and work ethic than the actual results. Enjoyed the article and all the quotes. Despite Ubaldo's horrible season, good to hear he's a mentor and friend to Castro.

SUN 

[Frobby]

It's always nice when we pick up a pitcher from another organization and they thrive here.    It sounds like they had a really good plan for Castro.   

[weams]

43 minutes ago, O's are Legends said:

I'm sure when it comes to observing Ubaldo, it's more in preparation and work ethic than the actual results. Enjoyed the article and all the quotes. Despite Ubaldo's horrible season, good to hear he's a mentor and friend to Castro.

SUN 

Ubaldo Jimenez is a latin pitcher that has been an All Star and second runner up for the Cy Young. I bet a discarded young reliever would aspire to that career and wealth. 

[Nevermore]

40 minutes ago, O's are Legends said:

I'm sure when it comes to observing Ubaldo, it's more in preparation and work ethic than the actual results. Enjoyed the article and all the quotes. Despite Ubaldo's horrible season, good to hear he's a mentor and friend to Castro.

SUN 

Maybe that's why management isnt DFAing Ubaldo. He is mentoring other, promising Dominican players.

[Tx Oriole]

13 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It's always nice when we pick up a pitcher from another organization and they thrive here.    It sounds like they had a really good plan for Castro.   

It is good.

[scbalt52]

56 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It's always nice when we pick up a pitcher from another organization and they thrive here.    It sounds like they had a really good plan for Castro.   

This has happened before? Thought it only happened against us  Just kidding, Castro has been a blessing. I have high hopes for him next year as well as a starter. I jumped on his bandwagon early and talk highly of him all the time (just ask my buddies they're probably tired of my man crush on Castro all year).