Castro In The Bigs Next Season?

[CubsWin]

When asked recently when he would first break a major league roster Starlin Castro replied, "next year" with a knowing smile. That I can understand. You want your star prospects confident. But when Cubs minor league hitting instructor Dave Keller said the same thing, I thought I would post a link to the article on cubs.com.

 

Dave Keller, the Cubs' Minor League hitting coordinator, projects Castro will be with the big league club by the middle of the 2010 season. How does he know? One of the projects Keller assigns to the Minor Leaguers is to keep a journal. He doesn't want to read that they went 2-for-4 that day, but Keller asks that they describe their feelings, either at the plate or in the field or on the bench. The journals must be handwritten. Castro, who wrote his in Spanish, was organized and to the point, Keller said.

 

"He can definitely play shortstop at the big league level," said Josh Vitters, the Cubs' No. 1 Draft pick in 2007, who is also on the Solar Sox. "I can see how people could say that [Castro will be in big leagues next year]. What he has in the infield, you can't really teach."

 

Ask Castro, and he'll tell you when.

 

"Next year," the Cubs' future shortstop said in English with a knowing smile.

 

Is he really this good? Is this rushing him? If he performs well at AAA for the first three months next season, should he not be brought up? What would be the harm?

 

Discuss.

[Guest]

I expect him to start the season at AA and get a cup of coffee in September. It's nice to see he exudes confidence and his teammates (Cashner, Castillo, Vitters) and coaches think he'll have success.

[Guest]

It is partially up to Castro, but it also depends greatly on what the Cubs do this offseason. If Castro begins at either AA or AAA and hits .350 with patience and some pop, the Cubs will probably try to find a way to get him on the field in the bigs. But let's say they go out and sign Hudson this offseason while keeping Theriot, Fontenot and Baker. There simply wouldn't be room on the roster at that point to bring Castro up until September.

 

Let's just hope he keeps hitting enough to make things interesting.

[Ryno12]

For selfish reasons I want him to be called up at some point next year, so I can order a jersey shirt. However, unless he absolutely tears ish up next year, I'd rather let him continue to develop, become more patient, and eliminate the errors. Barring injury though, I doubt we he gets up any sooner than September. I see his ETA as 2011.

[Serge]

I really hope we don't see him next year for anything more than a September callup. He might be able to handle coming up and holding his own if he had too, but I hope that the Cubs hold him down until 2011, when he can hopefully come up and excel as a rookie. Also, if Castro is up next year it probably means the major league team's middle infield is still a mess.

[Clem Fandango]

Not doubting Castros talent, but.... Dave Keller is certain that Starlin Castro will be on the Cubs before the end of the 2010 season because, and I think I'm reading this right, because he writes neat and orderly in (what is for all intents and purposes) a diary?

[Rob]

Realistically, if Theriot goes down for an extended period with an injury, he's still behind Miles and Blanco at this point. He needs to have a hell of an AFL, maybe some winter league action, and a very nice spring training for any of that to change.

 

Though I think given the way he's forcing the issue, he may have guaranteed himself a ST invite. That's a great start.

Edited October 24, 2009 by Rob

[wvcbxl]

...he's still behind Miles and Blanco at this point ...

 

It's mindboggling to me that anybody would be behind Miles at this point. ](*,)

[NCCubFan]

...he's still behind Miles and Blanco at this point ...

 

It's mindboggling to me that anybody would be behind Miles at this point. ](*,)

Agreed. That does not compute. That's like saying somebody was behind Neifi and Macias a few years ago. Blanco, maybe. Miles, no way.

[Rob]

...he's still behind Miles and Blanco at this point ...

 

It's mindboggling to me that anybody would be behind Miles at this point. ](*,)

Agreed. That does not compute. That's like saying somebody was behind Neifi and Macias a few years ago. Blanco, maybe. Miles, no way.

 

I'm not saying that he poses a significant roadblock. But if Theriot goes down and is only expected to be out about 3 weeks, I don't see us starting Castro's arby clock. Lou likes Blanco enough he'd be willing to keep him the lineup and make due with Miles as the backup.

[David]

I had never heard of Castro before today. (Obviously, I don't follow the minor leagues much). Is he really that good? I was under the impression that we had Vitters... we had Cashner as a decent relief prospect, and that was about that.

 

Suddenly, I hear Stone praising this guy on the Score today and I had never heard his name before. He mentioned him within the context of saying Theriot should be moved to 2B next year with a stop gap SS to hold down the fort for a year until Castro came up.

[SouthSideRyan]

Cashner's a decent starting prospect. Cubs system took a giant leap forward this year out of the flaming pit of despair it was last year.

[Outshined_One]

I had never heard of Castro before today. (Obviously, I don't follow the minor leagues much). Is he really that good? I was under the impression that we had Vitters... we had Cashner as a decent relief prospect, and that was about that.

 

Suddenly, I hear Stone praising this guy on the Score today and I had never heard his name before. He mentioned him within the context of saying Theriot should be moved to 2B next year with a stop gap SS to hold down the fort for a year until Castro came up.

 

Castro has an enormous hype machine behind him at the moment. He was well-regarded at the end of the minor league season since he put up good numbers at the plate in High A and AA and because he had garnered a strong defensive reputation. However, he went to the Arizona Fall League and everyone went completely nuts over him since he's posting a very high batting average and has made some nice defensive plays. He's doing an excellent job for a 19 year old. There are still some concerns about his power, ability to maintain his batting average at higher levels, and some lingering questions about his high error totals in the minors.

 

During the offseason, you will likely see a lot of people name him the Cubs' #1 overall prospect. Baseball America might name him a Top 30 prospect in baseball. Whether or not the hype behind him is merited is another matter altogether, but he's got people talking.

 

Also, the farm system has substantially improved from last year. Overall, the Cubs' system should rate somewhere around the middle of the pack compared with other teams.

[TruffleShuffle]

There are still some concerns about his power, ability to maintain his batting average at higher levels, and some lingering questions about his high error totals in the minors.

 

i would say that there's a bigger concern about him not drawing walks (he's an early in the count hitter) than there is about ability to hit for average at higher levels. he squares the ball up well and doesn't strike out much so he should continue to hit for solid average. however, a guy with a 280/310/350 line isn't worth all that much.

 

as for his defense, i think people like his range and arm but he's only 19 and is 6'1", so if he grows another couple of inches and fills out there's a possibility that he'll outgrow the position.

[utkcub]

He's listed at 6'1 160 lbs right now which means he's going to grow, he should be able to stay at shortstop. I wouldn't mind having a 6'2 180 lbs SS with some power and an arm

[utkcub]

He should be able to stay at shortstop, I think he's listed at 6'1 170lbs right now so he will definitely get bigger. I wouldn't mind a 6'2 185 lbs SS with some power

[David]

Thanks for the info, guys... Seems too soon to get excited about him.

[TruffleShuffle]

Thanks for the info, guys... Seems too soon to get excited about him.

 

for some of us it's too late.

[David]

Yea, I've noticed that... ha

 

For someone who doesn't follow the minors at all, though, too soon.

[toonsterwu]

Odd, thought I posted in this thread before. Whether or not Castro makes the bigs next year, I don't know. I'd rather see him spend more time in AA, and get some Iowa time.

 

That said, I do believe our offseason planning will be impacted by Castro. I doubt there's going to be a key middle infield signing (that said, I'm perfectly fine with Baker at 2nd).

 

As for whether or not it's too early to get excited - thing is, let's assume that he doesn't meet the high end expectations. That is, he doesn't become a plus defender who runs well and has above average power for the position while making quality contact. A decent expectation right now is a decent contact bat who is solid defensively. Considering the position, there's enough reason to be excited about that, in my opinion.

[AlwaysaCub]

As Bill James pointed out somewhere, there are very few examples of players who were semi-regulars by age 20 who didn't become stars. If he makes the majors and plays next year...watch out.

 

I think his ETA depends on how good the Cubs are next year, as well as how our 2B situation plays out. If we're in the running in June and Baker is struggling, no way they don't call him up a la Pie.

[toonsterwu]

Paul Sullivan wrote an article the other day that touched on this, suggesting that Castro has a shot at breaking camp with the Cubs. Hendry suggests that Rudy Jaramillo will be a big voice in deciding if Castro breaks camp. Anyhow, they've already approached Ryan Theriot about moving to 2nd, which he seems to be open to, based on the article. This further suggests that the chances of a key MI acquisition seem slim, unless it's some sort of return from a Milton Bradley trade, imo.

 

Anyhow, nothing really new in the article that hasn't been discussed this offseason, but it was an interesting read, particularly the Hendry quotes, which suggests that Castro is up, they'll let him stay up.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-27-cubs-starlin-castro-nov27,0,4875326.story

[Serge]

Paul Sullivan wrote an article the other day that touched on this, suggesting that Castro has a shot at breaking camp with the Cubs. Hendry suggests that Rudy Jaramillo will be a big voice in deciding if Castro breaks camp. Anyhow, they've already approached Ryan Theriot about moving to 2nd, which he seems to be open to, based on the article. This further suggests that the chances of a key MI acquisition seem slim, unless it's some sort of return from a Milton Bradley trade, imo.

 

Anyhow, nothing really new in the article that hasn't been discussed this offseason, but it was an interesting read, particularly the Hendry quotes, which suggests that Castro is up, they'll let him stay up.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-27-cubs-starlin-castro-nov27,0,4875326.story

 

Ugh, I'm not sure how much I like this. On the one hand I LOVE the commitment they're showing to him. On the other hand I think production wise there's a good chance he won't be able to hack it this soon. I think I'd rather they hold him down and he can hopefully hit the ground running when he reaches the majors, rather than hoping he can hold his own being a major leaguer at age 20. Luckily though, as Elvis Andrus showed as last year, even if he doesn't hit if he can do enough of the other things right he can still be a pretty damn good player.

[E.J.]

The only thing I like about this news is Theriot moving to 2b. His noodle arm and lack of range is hurting us at SS.

[jersey cubs fan]

The only thing I like about this news is Theriot moving to 2b. His noodle arm and lack of range is hurting us at SS.

 

I didn't really read into it that 2010 was all that likely. If he's up in 2011 I'm not so sure I'd want Theriot still around even if he moves to 2B.