Raul Casanova

Infobox MLB player


width = 150px
name=Raul Casanova
position=Catcher
team=New York Mets
number=30
bats=Switch
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1972|8|23
debutdate=May 24
debutyear=1996
debutteam=Detroit Tigers
statyear=May 3, 2008
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.235
stat3label=Home runs
stat3value=35
stat2label=Runs batted in
stat2value=127
teams=
*Detroit Tigers (by|1996–by|1998)
*Milwaukee Brewers (by|2000–by|2002)
*Baltimore Orioles (by|2002)
*Chicago White Sox (by|2005)
*Tampa Bay Devil Rays (by|2007)
*New York Mets (by|2008)

Raul Casanova (born August 23, 1972 in Humacao, Puerto Rico) is a Major League Baseball player for the New York Mets. He is a switch-hitting, right-handed throwing catcher.

Early life

Casanova attended Ponce High School in Puerto Rico. [cite web| title = Raul Casanova stats | url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/raul-casanova.shtml | accessdate = 2007-02-18 ]

Baseball career

Minor League

He was drafted 220th overall, in the eighth round of the by|1990 draft by the New York Mets.

His professional career started off that year, and it was not impressive-in 65 at bats, he collected only five hits for a .077 batting average. His by|1991 season was almost just as bad - in 18 at bats with the Kingsport Mets, he collected one hit for a .056 batting average. In 32 games with the Gulf Coast League Mets that year, he hit .243.

His by|1992 season was a definite improvement. In 137 at bats with Kingsport that year, not only did he hit his first professional home run, but he also hit .270. He hit only .167 in 18 at bats with the Columbia Mets that year though.

After the 1992 season, he was traded with Wally Whitehurst and D.J. Dozier to the San Diego Padres for Tony Fernández. [cite web| title = Raul Casanova transactions | url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/casanra01.shtml| accessdate = 2007-02-18 ] That trade might have saved his previous unstellar professional career.

He spent the whole of by|1993 with the Waterloo Diamonds, and he hit .256 with six home runs in 76 games.

Then, in by|1994, he had the best season of his professional career. Playing for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, his batting average soared to .340, and he also blasted 23 home runs and had 120 RBI. Because of his outstanding performance, he was named the Padres Minor League Player of the Year. He was also a California League All-Star. [cite web| title = Raul Casanova awards | url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/raul-casanova.shtml| accessdate = 2007-02-18 ]

Quote box
quote = You build ballclubs around guys like him (Raul Casanova). In my mind, he has made himself the top prospect in the organization. He's a switch-hitting catcher with power.
source = – Tim Flannery in Baseball Digest (1995)
align = right

It would be nearly impossible to follow up a season like 1994 with an identical one the next year. In by|1995, Casanova saw his average drop to .271, but he did hit 12 home runs while with the Memphis Chicks. He was playing in Double-A baseball, higher than he had ever played before. According to Baseball America, he was the 60th best prospect in 1995. [cite web| title = Baseball America - All-Time Top 100 Prospects| url=http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/at100.html| accessdate = 2007-02-18 ]

After the 1995 season, he was traded with Richie Lewis and Melvin Nieves to the Detroit Tigers for Sean Bergman, Todd Steverson and minor leaguer Cade Gaspar.

He started by|1996 with a bang, hitting .333 in 30 at bats with the Jacksonville Suns. That prompted his promotion to Triple-A, where he hit .273 in 49 games.

Major League

He made his Major League debut on May 24 of that year at the age of 23, going 0-for-4 in his debut game. [cite web| title = Raul Casanova debut game| url = http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1996/B05240DET1996.htm| accessdate = 2007-02-18 ] He collected his first hit on May 27 off pitcher Tim Belcher of the Kansas City Royals. [cite web| title = Raul Casanova first hit game | url = http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1996/B05270KCA1996.htm| accessdate = 2007-02-18 ] Two days later in his very next game, he hit his first career home run, a solo shot off Kevin Appier. [cite web| title = Raul Casanova first home run game | url = http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1996/B05290KCA1996.htm| accessdate = 2007-02-18 ] Overall, he played 25 games for the Tigers that year, hitting .188 with four home runs and nine RBI. In 1996, he hit home runs from both sides of the plate in one game.

He was the team's main starting catcher in by|1997, although Matt Walbeck also got a fairly large amount of playing time. In 101 games with Detroit that year, he hit .243 with five home runs and 24 RBI. Of all the players on the team who appeared in over 100 games, he was the only one not to collect 40 or more RBI. He also spent some time in the minors, hitting .195 in 12 games with the Toledo Mud Hens.

He started by|1998 as the team's starting catcher, but after collecting only two hits in his first 13 games, he was sent down to Toledo. In 50 games with Toledo that year, he hit .257. He was recalled back to the Majors in July of that year, but only played three more games in the big leagues. Overall, he hit only .143 in 16 games with the Tigers that year.

He spent all of by|1999 in the minor leagues, playing as low as Rookie League baseball. In two games with the GCL Tigers that year, he collected four hits (including a home run) in five at bats for an .800 batting average. In 12 at bats with Single-A Advanced Lakeland, he hit .500, hitting another home run. He really struggled while with Triple-A Toledo-he spent 44 games with them and hit only .206.

He was granted free agency after the 1999 season and was signed by the Colorado Rockies. He was released by them before the beginning of the season and was then picked up by the Milwaukee Brewers. Casanova, Henry Blanco and Tyler Houston all spent time catching for the Brewers in by|2000. He hit .247 with six home runs (including two grand slams) and 36 RBI for the Brewers that year. He also hit .288 in 20 games with the Indianapolis Indians that season.

He was the team's main backup catcher in by|2001, backing up Blanco. He had a career year that year, belting a career high 11 home runs and hitting a career high .260 in 71 games. Also, for the first time in his career, he did not spent any time in the minors that season.

by|2002 was a bad season for Casanova. He started off with the Brewers, but after hitting only .184 in 31 games with them he was released and quickly signed by the Baltimore Orioles. He only played two games with them that year, collecting no hits in one at bat. Overall, he hit .182 that year, with one home run and eight RBI. He spent 14 games with Indianapolis that year as well-he hit .279 with them.

He played in five different farm systems between by|2003 and by|2005, actually playing fairly impressively. He played for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox and Ottawa Lynx in 2003, hitting .301 while with the Sky Sox, who are in the Colorado Rockies farm system, and .286 with the Lynx, who are in the Orioles farm system.

Signed as a free agent by the Boston Red Sox in by|2004, he hit .270 in 23 games with their Triple-A team, the Pawtucket Red Sox before being sent to the Kansas City Royals as part of a conditional deal. In 58 games with their Triple-A team, the Omaha Royals, he hit an outstanding .323 with 10 home runs.

Even after a great performance in their system, Casanova was released by the Royals and then signed by the Chicago White Sox. He spent 70 games with their Triple-A team, the Charlotte Knights, before getting called up to the Majors in the latter part of the season. In six games with the White Sox that year, he collected one hit in five at bats for a .200 batting average.

He was granted free agency after the 2005 season and was signed by the Oakland Athletics. He played in a total of eight minor league games in by|2006, hitting .265 in 34 at bats. He spent time with three teams in '06 - he played two games with the Stockton Ports, two games with the Midland RockHounds and four games with the Sacramento River Cats.

He was a non-roster invitee to spring training in by|2007 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He was assigned to the Triple-A Durham Bulls. In June 2007, Casanova was called up to back up Dioner Navarro in the major leagues. In 29 big league games in 2007, Casanova hit .253 with six home runs and 11 RBI. His slugging percentage was .519. In 44 games with the Bulls, he hit .291 with five home runs and 21 RBI. On December 12, 2007, Casanova signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets.

On April 27, 2008, Casanova hit his first home run as a New York Met. Batting left-handed, he hit the home run to right-center field at Shea Stadium against Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz.

Casanova was placed on the bereavement list on June 4, 2008, after the death of his father. After returning to the team a few days later, he was designated for assignment on June 10.He is now with the Mets Triple-A team New Orleans.

At last check, Casanova lived in Miami, Florida.

References

External links

*Baseballstats |mlb=112077 |espn=3455 |br=c/casanra01 |fangraphs=680 |cube=c/raul-casanova
* [http://tsn.ca/mlb/teams/players/bio/?id=191&hubname=mlb-devil_rays The Sports Network]