Former Padres Pitcher Involved in Scary Car Accident

Sam Garcia | Oct 31, 2024

Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

Left-handed pitcher José Castillo was involved in a car accident on Sunday in his home country of Venezuela. Castillo did not endure any injuries from the accident.

A social communicator for a team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League reported the news via X on Monday. The post was written in Spanish but translates to: “Magallanes pitcher José Castillo had a car accident, but thank God he reported that he is fine and nothing happened. The wheels of the vehicle came off the road on the Ortiz-Parara highway, in the northwest of the state of Guárico, when it was going to Valencia this Sunday.”

Pitcher del Magallanes José Castillo, tuvo un accidente vehicular, pero gracias a Dios informó que está bien y no pasó nada.

Al vehículo se le salieron las ruedas en plena vía Ortiz-Parara, al noroeste del estado Guárico, cuando iba a Valencia este domingo. pic.twitter.com/xAclHNO0YR

— José El Legionario (@Soylegionario) October 28, 2024

Castillo was assigned to the Navegantes del Magallanes in October 2023 after four seasons with the San Diego Padres. He was initially signed by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012. Two years later, the Rays traded Castillo to the Padres alongside center fielder Wil Myers, catcher Ryan Hanigan, and right-handed pitcher Gerardo Reyes.

Castillo made his Major League debut on June 2, 2018. His debut came one year after he played with Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. In his rookie season, the southpaw made 37 appearances as a relief pitcher and logged a 3.29 ERA. However, Castillo only made three more appearances across the final three seasons of his MLB career. 

He endured an injured tendon in his left middle finger in 2019 and a left lat strain the next year. Then, Castillo missed the entire 2021 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. 

Castillo elected free agency in 2023. He joined a team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League before signing a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks invited him as a non-roster player to spring training but he never made an MLB appearance this season. 

He also spent nearly four months on the injured list at the beginning of the season after enduring a hand injury in spring training. Castillo made on rehab appearance with the ACL Diamondbacks. In the minor leagues, Castillo played the majority of the season with the Triple-A Reno Aces. Overall this season, Castillo accrued a 3.75 ERA and threw 29 strikeouts and just nine walks across 24 appearances with both the ACL Diamonbacks and Triple-A Reno.

Considering his lack of durability over the past few seasons, the 28-year-old reliever seems to still have a long way to go until he is back on the Major League mound.