Santiago Casilla

Santiago Casilla (born July 25, 1980) is a Dominican former professional baseball relief pitcher.

Santiago Casilla was born on July 25, 1980, in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic.

He attended high school in Sabana Grande de Palenque.

Casilla wanted to be a baseball player, but he was still unsigned at the age of 19, and most Major League Baseball (MLB) scouts in the Dominican Republic were more interested in signing younger prospects.

Casilla originally signed with Oakland under the name of Jairo Garcia, listing his birthdate as 1983.

Obtaining false papers from a friend, Casilla began pitching under the name of Jairo Garcia, listing his birthday as March 7, 1983.

On January 31, 2000, he was signed as an amateur free agent by the Oakland Athletics.

Casilla made his professional debut with the rookie league Dominican Summer League Athletics in 2000.

Appearing in 11 games, 10 of which he started, he had a 6–2 record and a 3.26 earned run average (ERA).

In 2001, he pitched in 12 games (7 starts) for the rookie league Arizona League Athletics, posting a 4–2 record, a 2.85 ERA, 50 strikeouts, 7 walks, and 37 hits allowed in 47 1⁄3 innings pitched.

When the 2002 season began, Casilla remained with the Arizona League Athletics.

In 13 games (8 starts), he had a 2–1 record, a 2.44 ERA, 66 strikeouts, 17 walks, and 56 hits allowed in 59 innings pitched before getting promoted to the Vancouver Canadians of the Single-A short season Northwest League on August 24.

He finished the year with three starts for the Canadians, losing all of them and posting a 7.30 ERA.

Casilla participated in extended spring training in 2003, delaying the start of his minor league season until May 19, when he was assigned to the Kane County Cougars of the Single-A Midwest League.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2004 to 2018 for the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants.

Casilla threw four pitches: a fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup.

He debuted with Oakland in 2004, pitching briefly for them that year and the next.

In 2004, Casilla became a full-time relief pitcher.

Starting the season with Kane County, he was used as the Cougar closer, recording 16 saves while posting a 1–0 record, an 0.30 ERA, 49 strikeouts, 6 walks, and 16 hits allowed in 25 games (30 innings pitched).

On June 24, he was called up by the Double-A Midland RockHounds of the Texas League.

In 13 games, he had a 2–0 record, two saves, a 1.50 ERA, 32 strikeouts, 15 walks, and 10 hits allowed in 18 innings pitched.

On July 30, he was promoted to the Sacramento River Cats of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL); he made three appearances for them before getting called up to Oakland for the first time on August 9.

Casilla made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut that same day, holding the Minnesota Twins scoreless for the final 2 innings of an 8–2 victory.

He appeared in two more games before being sent back to Sacramento on August 18.

In 11 games for Sacramento, he had a 1–2 record, 1 save, a 3.95 ERA, 21 strikeouts, nine walks, and 10 hits in 13 2⁄3 innings.

The Athletics called him back up in September, but he only appeared in one more game.

In his four outings for Oakland, he had no record, no saves, a 12.71 ERA, five strikeouts, nine walks, and five hits allowed in 5 2⁄3 innings.

In January 2006, he revealed his true name and age.

2007 marked the first time he pitched more than four games in a year for Oakland; he an initial boost to their bullpen but missed the latter part of the season with an injury.

He appeared in 51 games in 2008, then was allowed to become a free agent after posting a 5.96 earned run average (ERA) in 2009.

The Giants signed Casilla in 2010; after starting the season in the minor leagues, he was called up in May and remained with the team for the rest of the season.

He replaced Brian Wilson as the closer for the Giants in late 2011 and again at the beginning of 2012, when Wilson was injured.

Casilla won the World Series with the Giants that fall; he also won World Series championships in 2012 and 2014, one of only eight players with the team for all three championships.

Sergio Romo replaced him as the closer halfway through 2012, but Casilla reclaimed the role in 2014, holding it until the end of 2016.

Three times with the Giants, he posted an ERA under 2.00.

He pulled his left hamstring in July and was on the disabled list from the 12th to the 29th.

In 14 games (9 starts), he had an 0–1 record, a 2.55 ERA, 28 strikeouts, 19 walks, and 40 hits allowed in 42 1⁄3 innings pitched.

After Casilla struggled in 2016, he became a free agent.

The Athletics signed him in 2017, and he closed for them until they acquired Blake Treinen in August.

He pitched the first half of 2018 with them, then finished the year in the minor leagues for the Colorado Rockies.