Frank Castillo

Frank Castillo was a right-handed pitcher who played 13 solid seasons in the major leagues, mostly as a starting pitcher, while recording over 1,100 strikeouts and 82 wins. In love with the game and his family, Frank had his best years with the Chicago Cubs in the early 1990s, close to making Cubs history in 1995 and eventually retiring with a World Series ring as a member of the memorable 2004 Red Sox team.

Frank Anthony Castillo was born on April 1, 1969, in El Paso, Texas, the son of John and Gloria Castillo. Frank grew up, along with his brother Joe and two sisters, Debi and Denise, in a family with a strong baseball tradition. His father, John “Joe” Castillo, was a professional baseball player himself from the same area (Jefferson High). Joe played in the Arizona-Texas League and signed a free agent contract with the Pirates organization,1 but never made it to Pittsburgh.

Frank Castillo was drafted in the sixth round of the 1987 Amateur Draft (140th overall) by the Chicago Cubs out of Eastwood High School in El Paso, Texas. In that same draft Frank’s teammate and fellow pitcher Butch Henry was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 15th round.

It was with Castillo and Henry, leading the team as a great right-handed/left-handed starting pitcher combination, that the Eastwood Troopers won the 1987 Texas Region 1 Area Championship, eventually losing to Fort Worth Richland Hill in the State Championship Playoffs.2

In 2002 Castillo was inducted into the El Paso Athletics Hall of Fame.3

Castillo, who grew up watching Nolan Ryan on television, said he had dreamed of playing in Chicago’s Wrigley Field. After being drafted by the Cubs, he said, “The thought of taking the mound at Wrigley is frightening. But it’s a good feeling to know that I may get that chance.”4

Castillo had signed a letter of intent with the University of Arizona but eventually signed a professional contract with the Cubs organization and began his pro career with the 1987 Wytheville Cubs (Rookie-Appalachian League) with an impressive 10-1 record and a 2.29 ERA, leading the league in wins and pitching five complete games. In that same debut season, Castillo also pitched and won one game for the New York-Penn League’s Geneva Cubs (Class A).

The following three seasons were marked by some serious injuries and excellent pitching performances while Castillo ascended through the Cubs’ minor-league system.

He missed half of the 1988 season with a shin stress fracture and pitched only nine games with the Peoria Cubs of the Class-A Midwest League. In his limited work, he compiled a 6-1 record with a 0.71 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 51 innings.

In 1989 Castillo was 9-6/2.51 in 18 starts for Winston-Salem (Class-A Carolina League) and 3-4/3.84 in 10 starts after a call-up to the Charlotte Knights (Double-A Southern League), with almost 200 innings pitched overall.

Castillo missed the entire first half of the 1990 season with a stress fracture in his back, but in the second half of the season he was 6-6 with a 3.88 ERA for Charlotte, pitching 111⅓ innings with 112 strikeouts.

Castillo began the 1991 season in the Triple-A American Association with the Iowa Cubs and his first four starts (3-1, 2.52) earned him a call-up by the Cubs on June 27 and a spot in the starting rotation to replace Danny Jackson, who had been placed on the disabled list with a lower abdominal strain. 

He made his major-league debut on the day he was officially called up, as the starter against the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Castillo threw eight shutout innings and the Cubs led 3-0 going into the bottom of the ninth. After Castillo allowed back-to-back leadoff singles, Cubs manager Jim Essian called on his bullpen. Reliever Paul Assenmacher allowed the two inherited runners to score, and a third, tying the game. The Pirates won, 4-3, on a wild pitch from Heathcliff Slocumb, who had relieved Assenmacher.

On July 1 at Wrigley Field, Castillo faced the Pirates again, giving up five runs in seven innings. This time, it was the Cubs who came from behind, tied the game in the ninth and won in 13.

On July 5 Castillo earned his first major-league win, a 5-1 complete-game six-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. He won his next two decisions as well, both against Houston.

His best game of the year was a three-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 27 at Wrigley Field. Castillo’s record for his first season was 6-7 (4.35 ERA), with 73 strikeouts in 111⅔ innings.

In 1992 Castillo became a steady presence in the Cubs rotation and established himself as a major-league starter, pitching over 200 innings, compiling a 10-11 record (3.46 ERA) in 33 starts. He finished strong, with a 2.93 ERA over his last four starts of the year, including a win against the Montreal Expos on the last day of the season, working 8⅓ innings and striking out nine.

In 1993 Castillo made 25 starts and was 5-8 with an inflated 4.84 ERA. He also suffered from a lack of run support as the Cubs scored two or fewer runs in nine of his starts. After allowing 19 runs in 14 innings in August, he was moved to the bullpen and pitched in three games as a reliever to complete the season.

Castillo’s 1994 season was marked by injuries; he pitched only 23 innings in four starts, going 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA. He began the season on the DL with a sprained finger on his pitching hand and didn’t make his first appearance until May 15. After two starts, allowing 14 hits and 9 runs (8 earned) in 8⅔ innings Castillo was sent to Triple-A Iowa, where he was 4-2 with a 3.27 ERA before being called up in July after pitcher Anthony Young suffered a season-ending right elbow injury.

His return to the Cubs rotation, coming back from injury in late July, lasted only two games when the season was canceled after the players struck. His last 1994 start, on August 6, was his best performance of the year, a complete-game 7-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field. 

After baseball resumed in 1995, Castillo had his best season (11-10, 3.21), in 29 starts. He had two shutouts, the second of which, on September 25, was probably Castillo’s best game as a Cub. In that game against St. Louis, Castillo, who had struck out 13 batters, was one strike out away from recording the first Cubs no-hitter since Milt Pappas hurled one in 1972. With two outs in the St. Louis ninth, Cardinals left fielder Bernard Gilkey, on a 2-and-2 count, tripled on a line drive that hit the ground in right-center field just inches from a diving Sammy Sosa.5 Two pitches later, Castillo had the win on a fly ball to right field.

After the game, Castillo said, “I was too pumped up. I tried to throw it through a wall. I could really feel the energy of the fans. Sometimes you get caught up in that and try to do too much. It was one of those pitches that as soon as I threw it, I wanted it back. Sammy made a great effort. He almost made it.”6

“When something like that does happen, you think you have a chance to accomplish,” Castillo said. “It can be heartbreaking, but I’m looking at it as a positive.”7 

In 1996 Castillo started 33 games for a 76-86 Cubs team, striking out a career-high 139, but had a NL-leading 16 losses to go with only 7 wins (and a 5.28 ERA). The bright spot of the 1996 season was a shutout of the Dodgers in Los Angeles on April 28.

Castillo’s 10-year stay with the Cubs organization ended on July 15, 1997. With a 6-9 record in 19 starts and a 5.42 ERA, he was traded to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for pitcher Matt Pool. The rest of Castillo’s major-league career, which lasted until 2005, saw him pitch for several different organizations – Detroit, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Atlanta, Boston, Oakland, and Florida.

In Colorado, Castillo finished the 1997 season 6-3 for the Rockies before being granted free agency and signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers. In 19 starts and 8 relief appearances, Castillo was 3-9 with the worst ERA (6.83) of his career in a very difficult year as Detroit lost 97 games.

Released by Detroit, he signed with the Pirates organization but spent the following season in Triple-A Nashville before signing with the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent.

Castillo had a couple of very solid seasons in 2000 and 2001 with Toronto and Boston, winning 10 games each year as a member of the starting rotation. In 2000 he went 10-5 for the Blue Jays with a 3.59 ERA in 24 starts. A free agent after the season, he signed with the Red Sox. In 2001 he started 26 games for the Red Sox and was 10-9 with a 4.21 ERA. He defeated the Yankees twice in six days, on April 16 and 21.

Castillo started 23 games for the Red Sox in 2002. He was released at the end of a disappointing season (6-15, 5.07 ERA). He did, however, record his 1,000th career strikeout, becoming the sixth player to achieve that mark while pitching in a Red Sox uniform.8

In 2003 Castillo pitched in the minor-league systems of the Oakland Athletics and Atlanta Braves without being called up but did well enough to earn a contract for 2004 with the Red Sox. He started 25 games for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. Early in the season, Castillo was called up as a reliever and pitched in two games, securing the final out in the two losses, to the Orioles on April 15 and the Yankees on April 18, retiring Alex Rodríguez on a fly ball to center field. On the 19th he was returned to Pawtucket to make room for left-handed pitcher Lenny DiNardo, whom the Red Sox had acquired in the Rule 5 draft. From time to time, it appeared that Castillo might be recalled by the Red Sox, but he never was.

Despite appearing in only two games in April and facing a total of four batters, Castillo received a ring as a World Series champion.

A free agent after the season, Castillo signed with the Florida Marlins. He spent most of the season with Triple-A Albuquerque but made a final appearance in a major-league uniform on May 26, starting against the New York Mets in Miami and absorbing the 12-4 loss. His final play as a major leaguer was a walk allowed to Mets outfielder Cliff Floyd in the top of the fifth inning while his last career strikeout had come an inning earlier against Mets pitcher Kris Benson.

With that final game he ended his 13-year major-league career with a record of 82-104, a 4.56 ERA, 268 starts, 1,101 strikeouts, a near no-hitter, and a World Series ring.

Castillo briefly unretired and pitched in 26 games in 2007 and 2008 for the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League. In 2011 Castillo became the pitching coach for the Mesa Cubs, a position he held until his tragic death in 2013.

On July 28, 2013, Castillo, 44 years old, drowned in Arizona’s Bartlett Lake during a boat trip with friends while spending time with his family. Friends and family recalled him as a great teammate, a caring family man, and a player who had always loved and respected the game of baseball.9 He was survived by his parents, his brother and sisters, his ex-wife Tracy, and two daughters. He is buried at Restlawn Memorial Park in his hometown of El Paso, Texas.

“Frank was a quiet guy, didn’t say a whole lot. I hung out with him a lot, so I knew him at a different level than some others. A good dude and a good teammate.” With those words Castillo’s former Cubs teammate Brian McRae recalled his friend and teammate in an interview with the Chicago Tribune.10

Sources

All statistics, team, season, and game records are from Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 For Joe Castillo, see https://elpasobaseballhalloffame.org/inductee/joe-castillo/ and for Frank Castillo, see Rick Cantu, “1987: Eastwood Teammates Share Goal, Differ in Methods,” El Paso Times, June 4, 1987. https://elpasotimes.typepad.com/morgue/2013/07/. Accessed December 27, 2022.

2 El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame, 2002 Induction Dinner Program. https://epahof.com/2002-dinner-program/.

3 El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees. https://elpasoathletichalloffame.com/inductees/.

4 “1987: Eastwood Teammates Share Goal, Differ in method.” https://elpasotimes.typepad.com/morgue/2013/07/1987-eastwood-teammates-share-goal-differ-in-methods.html

5 Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals, September 25, 1995. No-hit bid final out and interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLN9Uj04HXk.

6 Paul Sullivan, “No Hitter, and Heart, Broken Up,” Chicago Tribune, September 26, 1995.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-09-26-9509260321-story.html. For his part, Gilkey said, “It seemed like everyone was against me. Everyone was yelling to me. I didn’t want to see us on ESPN getting no-hit.” Cubs first baseman Mark Grace went to the mound to return the ball to Castillo and said, “I saw his face on the mound.  I almost started to cry. He came so close.”

7 Sullivan.

8 The first 652 of his strikeouts were for Chicago.

9 Family obituary for ex MLB Pitcher Frank Castillo.
https://kvia.com/news/2015/01/12/read-obituary-for-ex-mlb-pitcher-frank-castillo-rosary-is-tonight/.

10 “Former Cubs Pitcher Dies,” Chicago Tribune, July 29, 2013.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cubs/ct-xpm-2013-07-29-chi-former-cubs-pitcher-castillo-drowns-20130729-story.html.