Castillo leaning on Joseph to learn new pitching staff

SARASOTA, Fla. - Players are trickling into the clubhouse this morning and undergoing the standard physicals, with signs pointing them to each station. Catcher Welington Castillo will have to delay the bonding process with his pitching staff until getting medical clearance.

Castillo will leave camp on March 5 to join the Dominican Republic team in the World Baseball Classic. It's not an ideal arrangement, with player being separated from his new club and the Orioles left short of catchers and wondering how Castillo will make up for lost time.

It's not a real concern for Castillo, who has previous experience with playing catchup after the Cubs traded him to the Diamondbacks in June 2015. The Orioles are his fourth team since the beginning of the 2015 season. He's learned how to blend.

"I know I've got to go to the WBC," said Castillo, who signed a one-year deal for $6 million with a $7 million player option for 2018. "I think I'm going to have enough time to know them. I know there's a lot of guys in here. Day by day, I'm going to get to know them.

"I've been in touch and asking Caleb (Joseph) about them, each pitcher, because I don't know nobody here. It's not going to take me a long time because when I was traded to Arizona, it's going to be the same thing. Almost like you get traded to another team when you don't know the pitching staff, you've got to get to know them pretty quick. I feel that I'm going to be good and that everybody in here knows what to do, too, so it's going to be easier for me."

Joseph is in a unique situation of assisting the player who's taking away his at-bats. Also, Joseph is busy trying to win the backup job, so he's multitasking with Castillo.

"It's something that I think during bullpen action you're going to be able to sit down and talk about guys," Joseph said. "He's probably got 40 new faces here and just sit there and talking about guys, they probably run together. But it will be one of those things that after a bullpen session, you go and talk and he's already come to me and we've talked a little bit about certain guys.

"It's a process and luckily for me I've never had any other pitching staff really in my career. I can't imagine what it's like to go to a new team and have 40 different guys, trying to learn 40 different personalities. But we'll catch him up to speed as best we can, and he's a great guy, a great learner. No doubt that he'll pick it up really quickly."

Castillo was on the tentative Dominican roster back in November, but his final decision came later.

"Honestly, I was a little bit in between because I know I'm going to a new team, new players, new pitching staff," he said. "I'm going to have time to get to know them. At the same time, I want to represent my country. It's a really good experience that you go there.

"I have in the past, like in Arizona, with the pitching staff there. I got to know the pitching staff really well. I feel like I like to talk a little bit with each guy. When the bullpens start today, it's going to be easier, too, because I'm going to get to know them and ask them 'What do you like to do? Where do you like to set up?' Stuff like that. That's how you get to know them and you might have an idea about what they might like to do, too."

Castillo's 10 passed balls last season tied for the National League lead, which prompted him to spend about a week with former major league catcher Jose Molina in Puerto Rico. They share the same agent. It was a logical pairing that could pay huge dividends.

"I was working hard," Castillo said. "I know I have to get better with my receiving, so I was working with him. I spent a lot of time with him.

"It was about the setting behind the plate, how you present your target and your body behind the plate to the pitcher. Just play with the pitch he's going to throw and get to know the guy on the mound. It was more mentally than anything. He was one of the best behind the plate receiving, so why not work with him and learn from him?"

The Orioles could benefit down the road, but not before the Dominican entry in the WBC.

"We are blessed because the Dominican Republic has a lot of good players, but the WBC is every three or four years, so who is going to guarantee me that I'll still be in baseball in three or four more years?" Castillo said.

"Why not go there and get the experience? I have a lot of guys there who I practice with in the offseason, so you're going to be around them. And you're competing against other teams and other players too, so I think it's going to be a good experience and the competition is going to be good, too."

Joseph lost his arbitration hearing with the Orioles and settled for $700,000 instead of the $1 million that he sought.

"For me, 2016 is in the books. Gone," said Joseph, who batted .174/.216/.197 with no RBIs in 49 games. "Excited to move forward. Very hopeful and optimistic. I feel great. But, yeah, that entire trial ...

"I will say this, I really appreciated the way they went about the trial. Their arguments inside the trial, they were very respectful. I didn't walk out of there with any hard feelings. None whatsoever. I don't feel like the relationship changed at all. And I did want to say that because it was a very straightforward, factual trial.

"I heard some horror stories from people about how bad the experience can be, but for me it was not that bad. And that was good. I'm glad about that. But the main thing is moving forward to '17 and being here, and I'm very excited about that. I've been doing a lot of hard work, mentally and physically, as I've told you guys in the past. I feel really good, and I'm really excited about what '17 is going to hold."

Joseph knows that he'll have to keep hearing about his failure to drive in a run until the streak is snapped.

"I want to get off to a great start, but I'm not going to hit the panic button if I don't," he said. "I believe the preparation and work is going to allow me to be successful. I cleaned some stuff up. A lot of stuff that I was working on during the season really came together during the offseason. And hopefully put a lot of the freak accidents in the backseat.

"You want to get off to a good start, but I don't come into spring feeling like there's a monkey or a gorilla or a host of gorillas on my back. I really don't. I know I'm a valuable part of this team, period. I'm not going in scared or nervous or shaking if I don't get a hit my first at-bat. I believe in myself way too much to feel that way."

Joseph concentrated on his hitting technique, trying to correct the flaws that led to his abysmal showing at the plate.

"There were certain aspects that weren't allowing me to be successful as often," he said. "Certain guys do certain things and really try to keep bat in the zone as long as possible. I was in and out of the zone. And when you're in and out of the zone, you only have a really small margin of error. And these guys up here are really good and their whole objective is to get you to miss in that margin of error.

"You look at guys like Manny (Machado), even (Mark) Trumbo, and their bat is in the zone for a really long time, allowing them to have more room for error. And that's all you are trying to create. Credit Brady (Anderson), (Scott) Coolbaugh, even guys back home, pulling something from everywhere. But at the end of the day it's about competing.

"That's one thing I tried to do last year is try to perfect a swing that's never going to be perfected. Too many factors involved. I feel comfortable now. l have my routine, I'm going to stick to my routine instead of staying in the cage for four hours after the game if I don't get a hit. That will drive you into the ground.

"You learn things here and there and you take some things from one season, even though you're 30 years old and you've been playing the game a long time, because you care. You want to be in the big leagues, you want to contribute, you want to help your team win.

"I feel really good. Excited to see these guys. I'm anxious, I'm ready to get out there. I'm itching."
That last part shouldn't be an issue with his physical.