Re: Starlin Castro promoted (!)

[RedFlash]

I see this as a knee-jerk reaction to a stumbling offense. Unless Castro is here to play third or they move Fontenot to third I don't see how this helps.

 

I tend to believe that Castro is here to play SS, with Theriot switching to 2B, and Baker moving into Chad Tracy's role as super sub.

What would make you think that? Seems like a huge stretch.

 

Why? Castro isn't sitting the bench, and he can't be a worst defensive SS then Theriot, who btw is a better defensive player at 2b then either Baker or Fontenot. It's not a stretch.

[Keener98]

I see this as a knee-jerk reaction to a stumbling offense. Unless Castro is here to play third or they move Fontenot to third I don't see how this helps.

 

Fontenot and Baker haven't been good.

 

Though Baker is still a good option to have off the bench against lefties.

 

Agreed

[erik316wttn]

Anyone else think it was on purpose that he gets his first action as a Cub on the road?

 

Isn't that pretty common for highly-touted rookies when first called up? Take some pressure off before their home debut.

[Sammy Sofa]

I see this as a knee-jerk reaction to a stumbling offense. Unless Castro is here to play third or they move Fontenot to third I don't see how this helps.

 

Fontenot and Baker haven't been good.

 

Is Baker's butt healed?

 

The physical wounds have healed...but Theriot's cruel mocking never will.

[KaiserCesar]

Fangraphs take on it

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/castro-called-to-cubs/

 

Read the second-to-last paragraph. Fangraphs seems to think that Theriot is some sort of god on defense.

 

More just that they follow the UZR metric. Theriot has been pretty consistently above average in it over the years. While I'm not so quick to think he's a great defender, I think he's well positioned and doesn't make too many mistakes which makes up for his arm/range a bit, and moving to 2nd would nullify his arm disadvantage, leading one to believe the team defense would get better as a result.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I see this as a knee-jerk reaction to a stumbling offense. Unless Castro is here to play third or they move Fontenot to third I don't see how this helps.

 

I tend to believe that Castro is here to play SS, with Theriot switching to 2B, and Baker moving into Chad Tracy's role as super sub.

What would make you think that? Seems like a huge stretch.

 

Why? Castro isn't sitting the bench, and he can't be a worst defensive SS then Theriot, who btw is a better defensive player at 2b then either Baker or Fontenot. It's not a stretch.

Apparently my thick layer of sarcasm was not nearly thick enough for some. Of course he's here to play SS with Theriot moving to 2B. That's been the plan all along.

[jersey cubs fan]

Of course he's here to play SS with Theriot moving to 2B. That's been the plan all along.

 

What? That's ridiculous. I thought he was going to the bullpen.

[Sammy Sofa]

Of course he's here to play SS with Theriot moving to 2B. That's been the plan all along.

 

What? That's ridiculous. I thought he was going to the bullpen.

 

Aramis to the starting rotation.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Of course he's here to play SS with Theriot moving to 2B. That's been the plan all along.

 

What? That's ridiculous. I thought he was going to the bullpen.

you're going to the bullpen

[ctcf]

Of course he's here to play SS with Theriot moving to 2B. That's been the plan all along.

 

What? That's ridiculous. I thought he was going to the bullpen.

you're going to the bullpen

 

Your mom is going to the bullpen.

[Sammy Sofa]

He's going to all of your moms' bullpens.

[A-Cal]

Sweet! A reason to not watch the Cubs on mute anymore while I play video games!

[Sever82]

Seriously, this is how much i haven't liked the cubs this year and why i'm exciting about this move.

 

1) I finally have a reason to watch the cubs, this would be the case if Cashner, Jay Jack or vitters was called up, i'm just not excited to see the cubs right now because of how frustrating it is to see them bat.

 

2) I finally get to see Castro in my MLB The Show 2010 game when the rosters come out next monday.

[Old Style]

Anyone else think it was on purpose that he gets his first action as a Cub on the road?

 

Isn't that pretty common for highly-touted rookies when first called up? Take some pressure off before their home debut.

Yes, but this is the Cubs we are talking about here.

[jersey cubs fan]

Anyone else think it was on purpose that he gets his first action as a Cub on the road?

 

Isn't that pretty common for highly-touted rookies when first called up? Take some pressure off before their home debut.

Yes, but this is the Cubs we are talking about here.

 

I think the Cubs have tried to do that quite often.

[Laura]

I subscribe to Tranny's newsletter on this. Looking forward to seeing Castro play.

 

Pie and Patterson are really terrible analogies to this situation.

 

How so?

 

Both were top prospects with high celings (supposedly). Both were rushed to the majors well before they were ready, and both fizzled out and became completely worthless in the short span of a few seasons.

 

This is following the same pattern. I don't see how it's out of line to expect the same result.

 

Yes, and the United States and Angola are both countries, that doesn't mean their problems or best courses of action are similar.

 

Pie and Patterson both had high K rates(especially considering how little they walked), making them more likely to be exploited by MLB pitchers at a young age. Castro is extremely rare in that he has a very low strikeout rate, making him less likely to fall flat on his face at the MLB level, and as a result, probably result in more patience from the coaching staff(this was Pie's problem). Furthermore, Castro has shown a consistent ability to adapt to promotions very well, including improving the weakest points of his game. When he was hitting .400 a couple weeks ago I mentioned that his walk rate was probably so low because he was getting hits all the time. Through the first 14 games he was killing the ball and had 3 walks. In the last 12 games he's leveled off a bit but has 6 walks. His walk rate improved by month last year as well, despite a promotion mid-season.

 

Again, as long as he plays consistently(which is more likely to happen than with Pie/Patterson because of his skillset, and because the alternative is Fontenot/Baker), then there's not a lot wrong with this.

[illiniguy]

I'm convinced they did this to get me to pay for mlb tv. Congrats it worked.

[Guest]

Interesting thoughts from Jim Callis on the B-Squared radio show on Castro, Vitters, Cashner and Colvin.

 

Link

[Sever82]

Interesting thoughts from Jim Callis on the B-Squared radio show on Castro, Vitters, Cashner and Colvin.

 

Link

 

Its kind of what people have been saying which is around a .270 avg with a .320 OBP. But unlike some of the people hating on here, he feels batting in the 7th or 8th spot is the right thing.

[Keener98]

Interesting thoughts from Jim Callis on the B-Squared radio show on Castro, Vitters, Cashner and Colvin.

 

Link

 

Its kind of what people have been saying which is around a .270 avg with a .320 OBP. But unlike some of the people hating on here, he feels batting in the 7th or 8th spot is the right thing.

 

Putting him in the 8th spot where hes going to see very few fastballs is not a recipe for success. Putting him 7th ahead would be the ideal spot

[Outshined_One]

Anyone know if this will make Castro eligible for Super Two status?

[Sammy Sofa]

Interesting thoughts from Jim Callis on the B-Squared radio show on Castro, Vitters, Cashner and Colvin.

 

Link

 

Its kind of what people have been saying which is around a .270 avg with a .320 OBP. But unlike some of the people hating on here, he feels batting in the 7th or 8th spot is the right thing.

 

Ironically, this is where Lou insisting on Soto batting 8th could be a good thing. If Castro is coming up with Soto behind him it's going to ideally force pitcher to not pitch him too much garbage and it should hopefully give Castro a chance to work on being patient against big league pitchers since he won't effectively be the last chance before the pitcher comes up.

[Banedon]

Paul Sullivan asks and answers some questions with regards to this move...

 

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/05/castro-decision-brings-many-questions.html

 

Is this a harbinger of future moves?

 

There's not a whole lot the Cubs can do with the starting lineup, but sources said Andrew Cashner, who was promoted to Triple-A Iowa, may be headed to the Cubs' rotation soon. That would mean Randy Wells or Tom Gorzelanny is on the spot. At the very least, the Cubs hope it lights a fire under Wells, who appears too comfortable in his second season in the rotation.

 

Not only would they demote Wells, which is dumb in and of itself, but they wouldn't use Zambrano to replace him? What a [expletive] bunch of people we have running this organization.

[Sammy Sofa]

Paul Sullivan asks and answers some questions with regards to this move...

 

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/05/castro-decision-brings-many-questions.html

 

Is this a harbinger of future moves?

 

There's not a whole lot the Cubs can do with the starting lineup, but sources said Andrew Cashner, who was promoted to Triple-A Iowa, may be headed to the Cubs' rotation soon. That would mean Randy Wells or Tom Gorzelanny is on the spot. At the very least, the Cubs hope it lights a fire under Wells, who appears too comfortable in his second season in the rotation.

 

Not only would they demote Wells, which is dumb in and of itself, but they wouldn't use Zambrano to replace him? What a [expletive] bunch of people we have running this organization.

 

Holy hell, this sounds dumb.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Hopefully his "source" was a suggestion from Kaplan.