Left-handed pitcher Daniel Castano announced his retirement via a post on his personal Instagram account. “After 25 Baseball seasons, 9 years pro, 3 in college, 4 in HS, and 10 years of little league, I’m finally hanging up the cleats and for my more important career in life,” the post reads. “To be a loving Husband, father, friend, churchman and employee.” He goes on to thank the many people who helped him on his journey and mentions he will be pivoting to a role with Entrusted Contracting.
As Castano himself mentioned, his baseball journey had many stops. He pitched at Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas, which then led him to Baylor University. He pitched three seasons for the Bears before the Cardinals selected him in the 19th round of the 2016 draft.
Just over a year later, Castano was flipped to the Marlins. Zac Gallen, Sandy Alcántara, Magneuris Sierra and Castano were sent to Miami in the December 2017 trade that sent Marcell Ozuna to St. Louis. Castano made it to the big leagues with the Fish in 2020, the first of four straight major league campaigns in which he appeared. He logged 88 2/3 frames over those four seasons, allowing 4.47 earned runs per nine. His 12.4% strikeout rate wasn’t especially strong but he limited walks to a 7.9% clip and kept 45.2% of balls in play on the ground.
The Marlins shuffled Castano on and off their roster in 2023 but he wasn’t holding a 40-man spot at the end of the season and became a free agent. In December, he landed a deal with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization. He made 19 starts for the Dinos this year, posting a 4.35 ERA in 111 2/3 innings. At the end of July, the Dinos signed Eric Jokisch and bumped off Castano, as a KBO team can only have two non-Korean pitchers on its roster.
Now it seems Castano has decided it’s time to move on from baseball and move towards, as he puts it, his “more important career in life.” We at MLBTR salute him on carving out a big league career and we wish him the best for the upcoming chapters of his life.