Career
He stands 6 feet (18 m) tall and weighs 210 pounds (95 kg). He has played for the Giants since 2010 after spending the first six seasons of his MLB career with the Oakland Athletics (2004-2009). Casilla throws four pitches: a fastball, slider curveball and a changeup.
He bats and throws right handed.
Minor Leagues
Casilla was originally signed by the Oakland A"s on January 31, 2000, as an amateur free agent, and pitched from then through 2005 under the name of Jairo Garcia. During spring training in 2006 he revealed his real name to be Santiago Casilla, and that he had used false documents which listed him as three years younger than his actual age when he first signed in 2000.
Oakland Athletics (2004–2009)Editorial
Casilla pitched small parts of 2004, 2005, and 2006 for the Athletics as a reliever. In 2007, Casilla was recalled by the Athletics from Triple-A after going 2–1 with a 4.13 European Research Area with 29 strikeouts in 24 innings.
He stepped into a bullpen that had Huston Street, Justin Duchscherer, and Kiko Calero on the disabled list.
Casilla started off well, going 2–1 with 2 saves and a 0.45 European Research Area in his first 16 games. But he wound up finishing the season with a 3–1 record and a 4.44 European Research Area in 46 games. He pitched in the A"s bullpen in the 2008 and 2009 seasons with mixed success.
San Francisco Giants (2010–present)Editorial
At the end of 2009, he was granted free agency by the A"s and signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants for 2010.
Casilla picked up his first career base hit, a bases loaded, two out Reserve Bank of India ground ball single between Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Hill on September 14, 2012. Casilla was the winning pitcher in Game 4 of the 2012 World Series as the Giants swept the Detroit Tigers.
On December 17, 2012, Casilla re-signed with the Giants for 3 years at $15 million. On May 28, 2013, Casilla underwent knee surgery to remove a cyst and was placed on the 15-day Doctor of Laws. Casilla is the third San Francisco Giant in franchise history to pitch an immaculate inning, joining Trevor Wilson and Orel Hershiser.
Casilla works with a prototypical power pitcher repertoire, chiefly throwing a low to mid-90s two-seam fastball and a hard-breaking slider.
He also occasionally mixes in a curveball and changeup. However, at times, he struggles with control of his pitches.
