About Kachi Gloves

For Us By Us. Built by two former MLB pitchers. Tested at a Miami academy. Made in Japanese Kip leather.

Julio Teherán pitching in the 2013 NLDS at age 22.
Julio Teherán pitching in the 2013 NLDS at age 22. Photo: Derral Chen / Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

A Glove Company That Started in a Miami Training Session

In the 2021 offseason, Julio Teherán — a 2× MLB All-Star still looking for his next big-league job — drove to a baseball academy in Miami to work with Carlos Castillo, a former White Sox and Red Sox pitcher whose 18-year playing career had taken him through the Majors, Japan's NPB, and Taiwan's CPBL. Carlos told Julio to lower his arm angle, change the grip on his changeup, and add a cutter.

Five years later, that working relationship is Kachi Gloves.

The Founders

Carlos Castillo

Former MLB pitcher (Chicago White Sox 1997–1999, Boston Red Sox 2001). 18 years in professional baseball across MLB, Japan's Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, Taiwan's Macoto Cobras and Brother Elephants, and winter-ball leagues across the Caribbean. Owns Kachi Baseball, a premier youth training academy in Miami.

Julio Teherán

Former MLB pitcher (Atlanta Braves 2011–2019, plus Angels, Tigers, Brewers, Mets). 2× NL All-Star (2014, 2016). 81 career wins, 1,260 strikeouts, 20.3 bWAR. Six consecutive Opening Day starts for Atlanta — tied with Warren Spahn. Born in Cartagena, Colombia. Retired March 9, 2026 at the World Baseball Classic.

Why Kachi Is Different — in One Sentence Per Point

  1. Two founders who actually pitched in the Majors. Not influencer founders. Not a brand manager in a backwards cap. Two pitchers who know what a professional-grade glove has to do because they've needed one to pay their rent.
  2. Japanese Kip leather by choice, not by marketing. Carlos pitched in Japan and Taiwan, where Kip leather is the professional standard. Kachi sources from the same tier of tannery — 30% lighter and roughly 2× stronger than traditional steerhide — because that's the spec the founders actually played with.
  3. Academy-tested, not focus-grouped. Every Kachi design gets field-tested by real players at Kachi Baseball in Miami before it goes into production. If a pocket depth doesn't work for a 14-year-old shortstop at a Saturday-morning workout, it doesn't ship.
  4. Professional break-in service on every custom glove. Steam-shaped using techniques Carlos learned over 18 seasons of pro ball. Your glove arrives game-ready. No 3-month softening homework.
  5. Latin-game DNA. Spanish-speaking support, Caribbean-flag embroidery options on every custom glove at no upcharge, and bilingual founders who represent the fastest-growing demographic in American baseball.

Kachi Baseball — the Miami Academy

Carlos founded Kachi Baseball after his 2011 playing retirement. The academy sits at 18732 SW 105th Ave in Miami and operates batting cages, a strength facility, and full youth-development programming — baseball and softball — for South Florida's competitive-level players. Sister brand Kachi International connects promising international talent (heavily Latin American) to US college programs and MLB scouts.

The gloves grew out of the academy. Carlos was already sourcing pro-grade equipment from Japanese manufacturers for his students because the retail options didn't match the quality he'd used professionally. Demand from parents, coaches, and other programs turned a back-of-house favor into a product line. Kachi Gloves is the formalization of that.

The "For Us By Us" Philosophy

It's not a tagline. It's an operating principle.

Most baseball-equipment companies separate their "pro line" from their "consumer line" — same branding, different factory, different specs, different price. Kachi has one line. The glove you build on our site is built in the same facility with the same leather using the same construction techniques as the ones Carlos and Julio used professionally. Same glove. Same factory. Same leather.

What You Get

  • Premium Japanese Kip leather as the default on custom gloves
  • US steerhide option on value-tier custom builds
  • Pocket, web, lacing, stitching, embroidery — fully configurable
  • Free Caribbean-flag and team-emblem embroidery (no upcharge)
  • 4–6 week typical build time on custom gloves, with a faster Quick-ship option for in-stock designs
  • Lifetime craftsmanship guarantee

Contact

Press, partnerships, wholesale, and team orders: hello@kachigloves.com. We answer every email.

For the full team directory, see our Contact page. For wholesale, see Wholesale & Team Orders.

Built by pros. For every position.

Configure your Kachi by position. Free heritage-flag embroidery. Lifetime craftsmanship guarantee.

Pitcher Catcher Infield Outfield First Base

Photo credits: Julio Teherán images on Kachi Gloves pages are sourced from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licenses (CC BY 2.0 and CC BY-SA 2.0). Full attribution accompanies each image. Founder portrait photography for Carlos Castillo is being commissioned and will appear shortly.

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