Re: Starlin Castro promoted (!)

[jersey cubs fan]

It's times like this I think that green font thing needs to be made mandatory.

 

I'd rather some folks miss some sarcasm on occasion than have to read the green font.

 

I'd rather some folks miss some sarcasm if only for the entertainment value, let alone not having to kill my eyes.

[J.R.]

Thrilled to see the "Cajun Connection" silliness brought to a halt, even though it's about a month later than it needed to be.

[Old Style]

Where was the AA team playing yesterday? When are they expecting Starlin to arrive or is he in Cincy already? Can we expect to see him in today's line up?

 

They were in the Knoxville area, which is about a four hour drive from Cincy. There should be a good chance of seeing him in tonight's lineup.

Per Muskat, Castro is already at the ballpark working with Theriot & Trammell. He is starting tonight and batting 8th.

[jersey cubs fan]

Thrilled to see the "Cajun Connection" silliness brought to a halt, even though it's about a month later than it needed to be.

 

About a season and a half really.

[Old Style]

Trammell & DeJesus

 

It's not even 3 p.m. CT, but the Starlin Castro era has begun. The 20-year-old shortstop is on the field at Great American Ball Park now, working at short with Ryan Theriot at second. Bench coach Alan Trammell and coach Ivan DeJesus are both working with the pair.

[Old Style]

Latest Bruce Miles update

 

We just talked to Jim Hendry. He said Lou probably will hit Castro down in the order. Here are some opening remarks from Jim, and then I'll head to the clubhouse before coming back up with more later:

 

“We’re excited about bringing Starlin to the big leagues. Obviously, he’s a quality prospect and a quality young man. We made the move for a couple of reasons. He played awfully well in Double-A for the first 28-30 games of the season. He had a low error rate this year and was swinging the bat very well. You all saw quite a bit of him in spring training.

 

“We also felt that he could come up and we would get better defensively having him at short and moving Ryan to second, which we think would be good for him, too.

 

“Obviously, Ryan’s a quality player, a .300 hitter, but we do feel at this point in his career that he might be better suited to go on the other side of the bag.”

[dew1679666265]

So he shouldn't have been called up at all this year?

 

September callup would mean no risk of burning an option. July/August callup would keep that risk to a minimum. Early May callup means we've got an entire season of worrying what Lou will do with him. Early May callup after getting swept by the Pirates moving well under .500 and 5 games out of 1st puts a lot of expectation on him to be the savior.

 

If he's handled properly, though, he could help turn this team around if he hits well. My expectations aren't real high for this year, but if he's ready to contribute – which, while opinions are split on whether he should have been called up, most seem to feel he can produce at this level – then this speeds up his development.

 

I agree there's risk involved in this move, but I don't agree with assuming awful handling any more than I agree with assuming great handling. The move in and of itself is fine to me. Now it's important that Lou uses Starlin well. We'll have to wait and see if he does, though.

[jersey cubs fan]

So he shouldn't have been called up at all this year?

 

September callup would mean no risk of burning an option. July/August callup would keep that risk to a minimum. Early May callup means we've got an entire season of worrying what Lou will do with him. Early May callup after getting swept by the Pirates moving well under .500 and 5 games out of 1st puts a lot of expectation on him to be the savior.

 

If he's handled properly, though, he could help turn this team around if he hits well. My expectations aren't real high for this year, but if he's ready to contribute – which, while opinions are split on whether he should have been called up, most seem to feel he can produce at this level – then this speeds up his development.

 

I agree there's risk involved in this move, but I don't agree with assuming awful handling any more than I agree with assuming great handling. The move in and of itself is fine to me. Now it's important that Lou uses Starlin well. We'll have to wait and see if he does, though.

 

Well I just think that's naive on your part. The Cubs suck at this. Why wouldn't you assume poor handling?

[Guest]

Because Castro is good at baseball.

[mul21]

So nobody has mentioned the real best part of this. If Castro is in the 8 spot in the lineup, that means that the best hitter in the lineup to date can't get stuck in the 8 spot anymore. Geo for cleanup?

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Did I miss a corresponding move somewhere? Cashner to Iowa and, I'm assuming, Tracy to Iowa. Who's leaving Iowa, and where are they going?

[Clem Fandango]

So nobody has mentioned the real best part of this. If Castro is in the 8 spot in the lineup, that means that the best hitter in the lineup to date can't get stuck in the 8 spot anymore. Geo for cleanup?

 

Lou is going to bat Geo 9th and the pitcher lead off. Shake things up a bit

[nick23]

I don't think batting him 8th is the worst thing in the world. It's not like he has a problem swinging at junk and strking out a ton. I doubt minor league pitchers were just grooving fastballs to him.

[Cubswin11]

Hopefully this is the start of a great career!

[shnsajax]

So he shouldn't have been called up at all this year?

 

September callup would mean no risk of burning an option. July/August callup would keep that risk to a minimum. Early May callup means we've got an entire season of worrying what Lou will do with him. Early May callup after getting swept by the Pirates moving well under .500 and 5 games out of 1st puts a lot of expectation on him to be the savior.

 

If he's handled properly, though, he could help turn this team around if he hits well. My expectations aren't real high for this year, but if he's ready to contribute – which, while opinions are split on whether he should have been called up, most seem to feel he can produce at this level – then this speeds up his development.

 

I agree there's risk involved in this move, but I don't agree with assuming awful handling any more than I agree with assuming great handling. The move in and of itself is fine to me. Now it's important that Lou uses Starlin well. We'll have to wait and see if he does, though.

 

Well I just think that's naive on your part. The Cubs suck at this. Why wouldn't you assume poor handling?

 

Well based on that there is not going to ever be a good time to bring up Castro. We got one with Soto two years ago, getting another hitting prospect within 10 years is going to be asking a lot.

[KaiserCesar]

So he shouldn't have been called up at all this year?

 

September callup would mean no risk of burning an option. July/August callup would keep that risk to a minimum. Early May callup means we've got an entire season of worrying what Lou will do with him. Early May callup after getting swept by the Pirates moving well under .500 and 5 games out of 1st puts a lot of expectation on him to be the savior.

 

If he's handled properly, though, he could help turn this team around if he hits well. My expectations aren't real high for this year, but if he's ready to contribute – which, while opinions are split on whether he should have been called up, most seem to feel he can produce at this level – then this speeds up his development.

 

I agree there's risk involved in this move, but I don't agree with assuming awful handling any more than I agree with assuming great handling. The move in and of itself is fine to me. Now it's important that Lou uses Starlin well. We'll have to wait and see if he does, though.

 

Well I just think that's naive on your part. The Cubs suck at this. Why wouldn't you assume poor handling?

 

Well based on that there is not going to ever be a good time to bring up Castro. We got one with Soto two years ago, getting another hitting prospect within 10 years is going to be asking a lot.

 

and Colvin's 50 at bats are REALLY pushing our luck

[AlwaysaCub]

Lou has had some success with 20 year old phenom shortstops before.

 

 

Not saying he's gonna be Arod or anything, just wanted to point that out.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If nothing else, it will be a fun little distraction from the fact that out would be best hitter/RBI producer has been slightly more productive than Aaron Miles. The move kind of reminds me of Gordon Beckhams seemingly rush to the big leagues. I guess it worked out pretty well for him last year. This year, not so much.

[Andy]

Maybe he'll tear his ACL while robbing the bank.

 

Crap, we're doomed!

ONLY MY TEAMS

[Guest]

It's a shame we will have to wait until the 3rd inning to see Castro hit a home run in his first major league at bat.

 

With that said, I'm thrilled to see Theriot moved to 2b, which is probably where he should have been all along. If we could trade him for Aaron Hill, even better. But, baby steps.

[NCCubFan]

The thing here that's all kinds of stupid is that people are buying into a made up story by Sullivan.

 

Who was it that reported Castro's promotion was imminent?

 

Bruce Levine said it could happen "at any point." I haven't seen anything from Sullivan on it.

 

Some dude from ESPN Deportes reported it first via Twitter....then everybody else grabbed it.

From what I read the ESPN Deportes report was based on a tweet from Castro himself.

[davell]

While I kind of wish we had waited another month or so to miss the super 2 status, I'm thinking the Cubs didn't bring him up for a taste of the big leagues. I think he's here to stay and I think Lou is going to play him everyday. As far as the super 2 status goes, it may not even be around when his shot at it comes around.

 

Not sure what to think, as far as stats for him this year in the majors, but if he holds his own as a 20 year old, it's all we can hope for. And considering how he's handled every promotion so far, I think he'll do it.

[NCCubFan]

Did I miss a corresponding move somewhere? Cashner to Iowa and, I'm assuming, Tracy to Iowa. Who's leaving Iowa, and where are they going?

Mike Parisi has been demoted from Iowa to Tennessee to make room for Cashner. I don't think a move to make room for Tracy has been announced, but he may not have reported yet. He has up to 72 hours to report and they probably wouldn't need to make a roster move until then.

[Guest]

While I kind of wish we had waited another month or so to miss the super 2 status, I'm thinking the Cubs didn't bring him up for a taste of the big leagues. I think he's here to stay and I think Lou is going to play him everyday. As far as the super 2 status goes, it may not even be around when his shot at it comes around.

 

Not sure what to think, as far as stats for him this year in the majors, but if he holds his own as a 20 year old, it's all we can hope for. And considering how he's handled every promotion so far, I think he'll do it.

 

I'd like to think you're right. But, there are two veteran 2b's sitting on the bench, so I can see Lou "mixing and matching" to get those veterans some at bats wherever he can. Kind of like how Soto sits for no apparent reason so that Hill can play more than he should.

[SouthSideRyan]

Chickens, no heads