How Rays’ Jose Caballero overcame pain, frustration to reach majors

PORT CHARLOTTE — Jose Caballero got off the plane at the Tallahassee airport for the hour-plus drive across I-10 to the Chipola College campus unsure what he would be walking into.

All the injuries, the disappointments and the heartbreak he had suffered through in trying to launch his baseball career, and here he was, a 19 year old from Panama who didn’t speak any English, dropped into the Florida Panhandle town of Marianna.

School had already been in session for about a month, so when Caballero arrived — picked up by a Chipola assistant and a Spanish-speaking teammate — the other players were gathered in the lobby of the team dorm to welcome the late addition to the roster.

“The whole team was down there. So people wanted to say ‘Hi’ to me and everything, like the new player,” Caballero said. “I couldn’t understand anything. I didn’t know a word in English. So it was pretty hard at the beginning.”

Classes were initially a major challenge, even with help from a bilingual Puerto Rican teammate and some tutors, starting from the first day when the teacher asked him a question and the whole room turned to look at him.

“He said I had to answer something, so I just started talking about my flight because I didn’t even know what the class was about,” Caballero said. “All the classes were like that, because I didn’t know anything.”

But Caballero would prove to learn fast, adjust well and progress quickly.

“He’s a really smart guy,” longtime Chipola coach Jeff Johnson said. “He picked up the language pretty quick. And I think his GPA was over 3.5. He’s a really good student.”

Those same skills and drive — plus tremendous physical tools, endless energy and a competitiveness that has no bounds — are why Caballero also became a success on the field, reaching the majors last year, and playing now with the Rays. The 27-year-old acquired in trade from Seattle will be the starting shortstop in Thursday’s opener.

“I only had an ‘A’ plan,” Caballero said. “I didn’t have a ‘B’ plan. I had to do the ‘A’ plan because that’s all I’ve got. ... I feel like if you have another plan or something else, you feel comfortable. And maybe things don’t work out as well. Since I didn’t have anything else, it has to go right.”

Caballero had to overcome a lot just to get the chance to go to Chipola, a junior college powerhouse that has produced 25 big-leaguers.

First, the pain.

Caballero decided young, watching Panamanian star Mariano Rivera pitching for the Yankees, that he wanted to play baseball.

He was 16, playing for a city team competing to represent the state, thinking he’d impressed scouts enough to get signed.

But in chasing a fly ball, he collided with an outfielder and broke his left leg, severely enough that he said there was some initial risk of losing the leg, then of never being able to play baseball again.

It took three surgeries, including installation of a long plate he still has to repair, and more than five months to return to action. “I had to play,” Caballero said.

Then, the frustration.

Slowly, he regained his impressive level of play, winning the shortstop spot on a Panamanian team that competed in Mexico, but he was 18 by then, and his injury history and age worked against him.

Caballero tells a story of seven or eight scouts showing interest during that tournament, including one, he thinks from the Dodgers, asking, “Do you want to sleep well tonight?” and saying he’d call that night to finish a deal, but never did.

Caballero started lining up training and tryout sessions, going to Guatemala where he worked out with Yoan Moncada, who would sign for $31.5 million with Boston, and Miami.

He finally got an offer, agreeing to sign with the Marlins for $25,000, but said that fell through due to issues with some new MLB paperwork that was now required of Panamanians.

“So I was just nowhere again,” Caballero said.

But then he got a break. One of Caballero’s coaches in Panama, Lauren Flores, was college teammates with Johnson and occasionally funneled Latin American players his way.

Flores sent video and heaping praise, and Johnson was intrigued enough to offer a full scholarship. Doubting he would get a pro opportunity, and already thinking about a career as an engineer, Caballero decided to play college ball.

His first year at Chipola was good. His second was great, as he hit .401 with 15 homers, 63 RBIs and a 1.236 OPS in 58 games and the Indians won the 2017 national junior college championship.

He finally got that long-awaited chance to play pro ball, drafted by Arizona in the seventh round, and signed for $170,000. His path still wasn’t easy. He got traded to Seattle in July 2019 as an Class-A player, lost time to the pandemic and injuries and, after reaching the majors last April and playing mostly second for the Mariners, was dealt in January to the Rays, who needed shortstop help.

Caballero has come a long way, leaving Chipola with a pretty good handle on speaking English, certainly compared to the early days, when he sought to take math classes since numbers were easier to deal with than words, and went through the cafeteria line so he could point at food rather than place an order.

Caballero would take notes on phrases he didn’t grasp. He would watch Netflix shows in English with the subtitles also in English.

“I remember times I had to stop the TV show every 10 seconds to hear and to read what they were saying, and maybe I didn’t know so I had to translate it,” he said, speaking fluent English now. “So that’s the way I tried to do things.”

Johnson praised Caballero — who he still refers to by his Panamanian nickname “Chema” — for doing a lot of things well, figuring he would reach the majors.

“I knew he always had a chance with his instincts, with the way he played the game,” Johnson said. “He’s got the speed, the quickness, the bat. He understands how to play. He’s a very competitive person. …

“The type of player he was, he always seemed to overcome anything. And whoever you put him up against, he competes to be the best.”

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