Dominican baseball card #27: Alexi Casilla

It has been a while since the Dominican Baseball Guy has had a Dominican baseball cards update. I had to stock up on some more cards, and got some good ones. So, for the latest Dominican baseball card, I have an Alexi Casilla 2011 Topps card (#339). It is a pretty standard card, no crazy graphics or anything. Topps has always had pretty boring cards.

Dominican player Alexi Casilla has had a solid MLB career since he first appeared in a game with the Twins back in 2006. He has never quite made it to 'everyday player' status, but has appeared in 69 games or more in five of his six full big league seasons. A well above average defender, he is a tick below average as a hitter, so he has been unable to hold on to a full time major league gig.

With that said, he has had some big clutch hits and been a part of some post-season success for the Twins. In 2009, during the 2009 AL Central tie-breaker game against the Tigers, Casilla hit a game-winning walk-off single to send the Twins to the playoffs. Just last week, he scored two runs and drove in four in a Twins win, so he has had some big games. The problem is he has not been able to do it consistently at the plate.

The Dominican Baseball Guy first noticed Casilla during the 2009 Dominican Winter Baseball League season. I saw him play live 15-20 times that year. He was the starting second baseman for the Gigantes for most of the year, and he really showed his class that year with a good showing at the plate and tons of good plays in the field. Even a marginal MLB player like Casilla can be a star in the winter leagues.

He is still making a major contribution for the Twins this year, though they are not in the playoff hunt. Dominican baseball player Casilla is from San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.