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**Alexi Casilla**
Alexi Casilla
;
	Minnesota Twins — No. 25
	Second baseman
	Born: July 20, 1984 (age 25); San Cristobal, Dominican Republic
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right
MLB debut
	September 1, 2006 for the Minnesota Twins
Career statistics; (through August 24, 2009)
Batting average	.246
On-base percentage	.303
Stolen bases	26
Teams
	Minnesota Twins (2006-present);
Career highlights and awards
	Charles O. Johnson Award (Most Improved Twin) (2008);

Alexi Casilla Lora (born July 20, 1984 in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball second baseman for the Minnesota Twins. He wears number 25 and is a switch-hitter.

[edit] Professional career

Casilla was signed as a free agent by the Los Angeles Angels in 2003. On December 9, 2005, the Angels traded Casilla to the Minnesota Twins for pitcher J.C. Romero. Casilla made his major league debut with the Twins in September of 2006, playing in 9 games.

In 2007, after a brief callup with the Twins, Casilla became the every-day second baseman after Luis Castillo was traded to the New York Mets. Casilla struggled, producing a .222 batting average with no home runs in 189 at-bats.

In 2008, Casilla did not make the Twins opening day roster and instead started for the Twins Triple-A affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings. After an injury to infielder Nick Punto, Casilla was called up in May.^[1] On May 19, 2008, Casilla hit a three-run homer, his first career MLB home run against Texas Rangers. It was also his first hit of the 2008 season. Since his callup, Casilla has been the Twins' starting second baseman and second hitter in the lineup.

At the end of the 2008 season, he was batting .281 with 7 home runs and 50 RBI.

Casilla struggled to begin the 2009 season. After hitting only .167 in his first eighty-four at-bats, he was optioned to Triple-A Rochester. ^[2] He has since been recalled and is on the Twins roster.

In 2009, during the second straight AL Central tiebreaker game in as many years featuring the Twins against the Detroit Tigers, Casilla became the unlikely hero, hitting a game-winning walk-off single to score Carlos Gomez from second base in the bottom of the 12th inning. ^[3]

[edit] References

^ http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_9496912
^ http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090506&content_id=4587516&vkey=pr_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min | Twins recall infielder Matt Tolbert
^ http://www.twincities.com/topstories/ci_13502883 | Casilla foresaw his big moment for the Twins

[edit] External links

Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube

Casilla at-bat in a spring training game

[0] ttp://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_9496912

[1] ttp://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090506&content_id=4587516&vkey=pr_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min | Twins recall infielder Matt Tolbert

[2] ttp://www.twincities.com/topstories/ci_13502883 | Casilla foresaw his big moment for the Twins

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