Chihuahuas trainer Maritza Castro enjoys return to El Paso
El Paso Chihuahuas trainer Maritza Castro is one of those people blessed to love her job, which is important given how much she does.
She enjoys working for the San Diego Padres organization, she enjoys being one of the two trainers for the El Paso Chihuahuas, she loves spending winters in the Dominican Republic working as the trainer for Leones del Escogido, a team she's been with eight years and counting.
That would seem to make it hard to find a professional highlight, but Castro has no hesitation on picking a favorite moment. That came this past spring when she was the trainer for the overachieving Mexican national team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
'Best experience' with Mexico
"It was probably the best experience in my professional baseball career," the 40-year-old Castro said. "Everybody has the same opinion — players, staff. We couldn't compare it to anything. It was great to represent your country with guys I had in San Diego before, guys I had in Winter League, guys I knew from different places and different years. It was nice to see them again.
"Even though we had native Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, we all knew what the goal was. We were super united. I had so much fun. It was great."
Playing in Phoenix and later Miami, Mexico made an inspired run to a third-place finish, winning a group that included the United States.
Castro, one of the few but growing number of Mexican female trainers in minor league baseball, is one of those people who usually has fun. She's found her calling as a baseball trainer, approaching a decade in the Padres organization and also in the Dominican Republic winter league.
She was with the Chihauhuas in the mess of a COVID season in 2021, at Class A Lake Elsinore last year and now back in El Paso. Her trajectory indicates she could be in San Diego soon, though that really isn't a huge priority for the woman from Barranca de Santa Clara, a small town not far from Guadalajara, Mexico.
Happy in the minors
"At the beginning, when they get to professional baseball, everyone wants to get to the big leagues," Castro said. "But I like this element, I like the minor leagues. If I get to San Diego, that's fine, but it's not a priority. I'm not saying I don't want to get there, but I really like working with younger guys.
"Last year I had a great year in Low A. Now I'm back with older guys. I'm used to those differences, having teams with players of different ages. But working with young players is really exciting. They are super motivated and always want to win."
More: After getting taste of glory, Chihuahuas catcher Kevin Plawecki looks to do it again
That also describes Castro. When asked what she likes most about her job, she started with "winning." When describing the challenges of the 2021 season in El Paso, she came back to that as well.
"It was difficult," she said. "It was the year after COVID and we still had a lot restrictions, like on who could come in to the clubhouse. We were limited on staff we could have in the clubhouse. We didn't have much help but we still had to follow protocols.
"I was the infection control person as well as athletic trainer. We had all the testing, the protocols, it doubled up the job in the way. Eventually the restrictions started dropping, we were able to have coordinators. For a while we couldn't have visitors. We were following the same protocols as the big leagues, it was hard.
"The worst was we were not winning, that made it harder."
In fact she loved the 2020 season when she was with the Padres' alternate site in San Diego because the Padres broke a playoff drought that year.
The Chihuahuas are struggling to win in a rough 2023 season on the field, but Castro likes the rest of her return to El Paso.
"Two years ago it was a little rough," she said. "I'm familiar with the city so it was good to come back. The staff is great, the players are great, the city is very happy, very supportive, a nice city. Even when it's hot it's still nice weather compared to other places. It's a nice spot.
"These fans are fun. The El Paso crew is very supportive, always happy. You wouldn't know we're losing. You wouldn't see that in a lot of places."
The road to El Paso
Castro's path here has been fairly direct. She is part of a vanguard of female trainers taking a bigger place in baseball at all levels. When she started training in the Dominican Republic in 2015 Castro said she was one of the only Hispanic female trainers. "Now there are a ton," she said.
Her origins as a trainer is somewhat common. A multi-sport athlete — soccer, cross country and track — Castro came to America in 2001 with the idea of going to medical school. After taking some English classes she enrolled in College of the Desert, a community college in Palm Desert, California and ran cross country.
"When I was in Mexico I wanted to go to medical school, but when I got here I wasn't sure what I wanted," she said. "Medical school takes forever.
"Running cross country at Palm Desert, I met the medical trainer when I injured my ankle and I wondered what his profession was. I did a little research on that, what I needed to do to get into one of those programs, then I found the program at San Diego State. That's how I got into athletic training."
At San Diego State, Castro worked with athletes from USC and University of California San Diego as part of her clinical training. After graduating she started professionally as a trainer for a soccer team in Mexico, but soon enough used a connection to catch on with the Padres in 2014.
She added the job in the Dominican Republic the next year, something she loves and intends to keep doing.
"It's fun, exciting," Castro said of the Dominican winter league. "The crowd is crazy. There is music, people dance. They are so passionate about baseball. The goal is to win, you're not there to develop. You're there to win, the owners know that, the players know that, the staff knows that.
"I have a great time every time I go. I love the culture."
Between her time in the Dominican Republic and in the Padres Arizona operation, Castro met Fernando Tatis seven years ago when he was 17 and they are still good friends.
Big workload
Her job in El Paso entails long hours as she's one of the first people to get to the ballpark and one of the last to leave.
"We do a lot of maintenance, especially with pitchers," she said. "We spend our time getting those guys ready for the next day, a lot of recovery, maintenance exercises, arm care. If someone gets injured and needs treatment we'll do a rehab program for them. If it's going to take a long time we send them to Arizona, or rehab them here then send them for game progression.
"Mostly we work on prevention. We don't want those guys to develop injuries or a minor issue becomes something bigger. That's what we focus on."
Actually there are a lot of focuses, which is part of what she enjoys about her job.
"I like a little bit of everything," she said. "I like the fact it's not always the same. You're not always inside. You're inside for a while, then you go out for practice and interact with the guys. Then you're at the game, you travel. You're not just like an 8 to 5 worker, it's different all the time, it's not repetitive."
Where Castro does that each year is also not repetitive. As much as she enjoys El Paso, she has no idea where she'll be a year from now other than somewhere with the Padres. That's fine with her.
"I go where the organization wants me to go," she said. "I don't care where I go as long as I'm useful where I go. The goal with San Diego is to win the World Series. Wherever you put me, as long as I'm helping us achieve the goal, it's fine with me. That's everybody's goal."
That's Castro's mission, one she attacks with joy every day, all over the Americas.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Chihuahuas trainer Maritza Castro enjoys return to El Paso
