Second baseman Alexi Casilla looks to make his mark with Baltimore Orioles - MLB News
Alexi Casilla played in parts of seven seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He showed decent numbers with a .250 batting average a .305 on-base percentage. However, the 28-year-old feels that his best has yet to come and he has a lot more to express.
Now a part of the Baltimore Orioles, he feels that it is going to be a lot of fun. He is aware that the team went a long way and has what it takes to be contenders.
"I feel good because this team went so far last year, and they were so exciting," said Casilla. "To be able to play here now and be part of that team, it's going to be a lot of fun."
Alexi had a productive time with the Gigantes in the Dominican Winter League and posted a .289 batting average with a .349 on-base percentage in the 37 games that he participated in.
The Dominican feels that he has a greater chance to play his way with the birds then he had with the Twins where he was restricted in what roles he could perform. He believes that he has found himself this winter and he certainly has what it takes to hit.
The second baseman had his best year in 2008 when he posted a .281 batting average and .333 on-base percentage. He had 108 hits which is the only time he had over a hundred hits in a single season.
Casilla says that the Minnesota ballclub was always changing things and it was tough on him sometimes. He believes that restricting him in a role that was not working for him was not the right move and he knows when he does something wrong.
He said, "They were always changing things. When you play like that, it's kind of hard sometimes, you know. I know what I'm doing wrong by myself. Sometimes when something is not giving you good results, you know from there what you are doing wrong."
Manager Buck Showalter sees the O’s as a threat this season, provided that the team stays healthy for the length of the season.
"We bring the potential to be more of a threat there, if we keep everybody healthy," said Showalter.
Orioles have some guys who can play well on second base. It will be interesting to see if they will be benching some of their players or will they be giving different roles to these players to accommodate them in the line-up.
Alexi Casilla is quite experienced along with being talented. The birds can certainly benefit from his talent and one hopes that the issues he had with the Minnesota Twins will not be present this time around and Alexi will be able to perform to his full
potential.
Tags: