Luis Castillo glad to hear he is a LatinoMVP candidate & wants to win artistic award

Luis Castillo posing with his LatinoMVP commemorative T-shirt - Image Credit: Latino Sports

PEORIA, ARIZONA — Yesterday I scheduled myself to go to the Peoria Sports Complex which is the home of the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres. My goal was to interview two Mariners, Julio Rodríguez (the 2022 A.L. LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year) and pitcher, Luis Castillo who are both on the 34^th annual ballot for the prestigious 2023 LatinoMVP awards.

I decided not to attend the complex early as I had done for the others, but to try and see the players after the game. Sometimes that is iffy as the players, especially the pitchers might not be available. However, it all worked out. Both, Julio, and Luis were on the game roster. That worked out perfect because if I would have gone prior to the game I would not have been able to speak to Castillo as he was scheduled to pitch and when pitchers are scheduled there is no access prior to the game.

I caught up with Castillo in the Clubhouse after his five-inning outing with the Mariners leading 8-2. Castillo pitched well and will probably be the Mariners Opening Day starter. He was surrounded by the regular press and answered many questions all using an interpreter.

I waited when they all finished with their questions. I then introduced myself and introduced myself in Spanish. I explained why I was there and gave him a history of the awards. He felt comfortable and we conducted the interview in front of his locker. He remembered seeing Julio last season receiving his American League LatinoMVP Rookie award in Seattle. Julio received a James Fiorentino painting which impressed him.

The following is the interview with Luis Castillo:

LS: Luis, you are on the ballot for the LatinoMVP awards for the 2023 season in the category of best American League pitcher. This is the second time your name appeared on the list of best pitchers. Now that you know the history of this award, what can you tell me about this award?

LC: Well, for me it is an honor to be on that list since I have been one of the pitchers selected to be on that tremendous list by many of the journalists in your organization. What we always seek is our dream to be the best and to provide for our families and for that we work hard every day. I feel super honored and super happy that I have been named to be on that list.

LS: What are your thoughts on having an award is specifically and only for you Latino players?

LC: Well, as I said, that comes from our performance. An award for the performance that we have had in a season, a year is honorable. It’s good knowing that they take us and our work into account every time we go out on the field. The consider our performance and since they named me in that award it is something that is quite good.

LS: The growth of us Latinos in this country is huge, there are already more than 60 million and thanks to artists like Bad Bunny for having concerts and showing everyone that you don’t have to speak English to be recognized in this country. He broke all the records of all the concert he had in many of the baseball parks. That has opened the eyes of the corporate sector. So much so that now MLB is our sponsor and negotiating with us to take the award to other heights that perhaps the fans can also vote for these awards. What do you think about this?

LC: It would be good since the important thing is that the major league baseball is taking matters into account, which is very important.  It’s also important that the fans must always be with us.  It’s the fans that go to the stadiums and they are 100% with us. They give good vibes and I think they should also participate in that event.

LS: Finally, as you saw with Julio in Seattle last year, if you are nominated for this award, it will be presented to you in Seattle in front of your fans. What do you think about that?

LC: Well, I would feel super happy since the fans will be part of that. I will be super, super grateful because our fans are incredible, they love us a lot and they give us good vibes. (He laughs) And I think that if Julio wins a painting, I can win it too.

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