Meet the Reds' new translator

In one week, Julio Morillo has gone from a uniformed Reds minor league player to a coat-and-tie major league job. Not to mention, a high-profile position that saw him on television Monday on Opening Day.

And, for many days to come.

Morillo is the Reds’ new Spanish-language translator, part of a new Major League Baseball program. Beginning in 2016, teams are required to hire a full-time, year-round bilingual employee – a person fluent in English and Spanish, with excellent written and oral communication skills in both languages – who reports directly to a team’s public relations director and/or general manager.

Last week, Venezuela native Morillo was a 23-year-old minor league catcher whose playing career stalled. After six years of mostly rookie ball or Class A play, Morillo had a .212 career batting average and no homers in 496 at-bats.

“My last year I wasn’t playing too much, and that was the last year of my contract,” Morillo said. “The team asked me about this (translator) job, if I wanted to apply. I did apply because I see like more of my future. I wanted to make it as a player but I couldn’t, but this is a good way to make the big leagues. This is my first time in a major league clubhouse.”

A sharply-dressed Morillo stood alongside Reds Opening Day starter Raisel Iglesias and translated for postgame interviews Monday. The 26-year-old Iglesias, who left his native Cuba less than three years ago, speaks only limited English.

“I feel really comfortable with (Morillo) because he can help me with interviews in English,” Iglesias said, with Morillo translating. “I can be able to talk to him. It’s a really good thing for Major League Baseball to have a translator for me.”

New York Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran is credited with driving MLB teams to hire full-time Spanish-language translators. The 38-year-old Beltran, from Puerto Rico, remembered the trouble he had communicating as a youngster in the majors. Beltran and fellow Latinos such as Albert Pujols (Dominican) had been calling for full-time translators.

For years, teams have employed personal translators for their Japanese or Korean imports. But teams rarely had translators on staff for Spanish-speaking Latinos from countries such as the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico. Players from Japan and other Asian countries often have personal translators as part of their contracts.

Until now, many teams have had coaches, other players or team personnel help with those who needed Spanish-language translators. MLB and the players’ union finally agreed to make a full-time translator a requirement.

Tomas Vera, a Reds assistant athletic trainer born in Venezuela, was the team’s primary Spanish-language translator in recent years. Vera often was seen in postgame interviews translating, most notably for Aroldis Chapman (native of Cuba) and Johnny Cueto (Dominican).

With the new mandate requiring full-time translators, the 48-year-old Vera opted to remain with the Reds as an assistant trainer.

“I’m really happy that Major League Baseball has done this, after more than 100 years of having Latinos,” Vera said. “Language is a big gap in between the knowledge of learning how to play the game. I’ll bet you there are a lot of guys who are not here right now just because they could not communicate.”

Reds pitcher Alfredo Simon, a 34-year-old Dominican, is among many Latinos who have made themselves learn English. Most major league Latinos, including Simon, speak to reporters without a translator present. But it sometimes remains a challenge, Simon said.

“I know English, but sometimes if you talk to me fast I still cannot hear the words,” Simon said.

Simon said that while in the minor leagues, he took a class every morning to help himself learn English.

“It was difficult at first to come here,” Simon said. “After that, the American guys want to learn Spanish and we want to learn English. We help each other.”

Reds manager Bryan Price, who said he knows just a little Spanish, said the team is thrilled to have Morillo aboard.

“We really like Julio Morillo, he’s a great organizational player for us,” Price said. “We’re really starting to embrace, more so, the need to have a more bilingual staff in place for these young guys.”

San Francisco native Price joked that, before being hired as Reds pitching coach in 2010, word somehow spread that he was bilingual.

“It was advertised when I was hired as a pitching coach that I was fluent in Spanish, which was a crock,” the 53-year-old Price said, to laughter. “I don’t know who threw that out there. I don’t know if it was to help with the (Aroldis) Chapman signing or what, but all of a sudden Price is bilingual. And I’m like, oh boy.”

New translator Morillo said he knew no English when he arrived in the United States, less than decade ago.

“I went to English class with my team,” Morillo said. “Every day, at least, 10 words per day. That’s how I learned it. I think it’s really good that every team has translators now for the Latin Americans. The Reds have given me a great opportunity."