5/7 Postgame: A Star(lin) is Born

[Coach C]

To be clear, this isn't meant as a reply to anyone here.

 

My real concern with this game is that it will raise the expectations for Castro to ridiculous levels. I'm hoping that the idiots don't come out at the first sign of struggle because he's not hitting 30 HR and driving in 120.

 

Nah. He's a rookie, he'll go through some rookie struggles. Once he gets more at-bats, opposing pitchers/coaches/scouts will have more film and scouting reports to get a full evaluation on him, and make the necessary adjustments against him.

 

What I DO hope for is when that DOES happen against Castro, that Castro is capable of making adjustments AFTER the pitchers made adjustments against him.

[wvcbxl]

My real concern with this game is that it will raise the expectations for Castro to ridiculous levels. I'm hoping that the idiots don't come out at the first sign of struggle because he's not hitting 30 HR and driving in 120.

 

A valid concern, imho.

I just want/expect him to do well and adjust to the majors this year.

[illiniguy]

I'm just happy he hit the ground running. I was afraid he'd start 0-10 and Lou would sit him on the bench. This kinda makes it harder for Lou to do that now.

[Little Slide Rooter]

To be clear, this isn't meant as a reply to anyone here.

 

My real concern with this game is that it will raise the expectations for Castro to ridiculous levels. I'm hoping that the idiots don't come out at the first sign of struggle because he's not hitting 30 HR and driving in 120.

 

Nah. He's a rookie, he'll go through some rookie struggles. Once he gets more at-bats, opposing pitchers/coaches/scouts will have more film and scouting reports to get a full evaluation on him, and make the necessary adjustments against him.

 

What I DO hope for is when that DOES happen against Castro, that Castro is capable of making adjustments AFTER the pitchers made adjustments against him.

 

Crap, we better sell high while we can. Do the Jays still want to move Downs or Frasor?

 

In all seriousness, Id expect similar numbers to what Gordon Beckham put up for the Sox last year, around 270's-280's,/mid .300s/mid .400s, as long as Lou sticks with him and dosnt knee jerk him to Iowa after his first 0-8. As long as next yeat he doesnt do anything close to what Beckhams doing so far this year.

[Guest]

To be clear, this isn't meant as a reply to anyone here.

 

My real concern with this game is that it will raise the expectations for Castro to ridiculous levels. I'm hoping that the idiots don't come out at the first sign of struggle because he's not hitting 30 HR and driving in 120.

 

Nah. He's a rookie, he'll go through some rookie struggles. Once he gets more at-bats, opposing pitchers/coaches/scouts will have more film and scouting reports to get a full evaluation on him, and make the necessary adjustments against him.

 

What I DO hope for is when that DOES happen against Castro, that Castro is capable of making adjustments AFTER the pitchers made adjustments against him.

 

Crap, we better sell high while we can. Do the Jays still want to move Downs or Frasor?

 

In all seriousness, Id expect similar numbers to what Gordon Beckham put up for the Sox last year, around 270's-280's,/mid .300s/mid .400s, as long as Lou sticks with him and dosnt knee jerk him to Iowa after his first 0-8. As long as next yeat he doesnt do anything close to what Beckhams doing so far this year.

I really wouldn't expect a mid .400's slg this year.

[TruffleShuffle]

starlin went from contact to third base in 10.8 seconds on his triple... i don't know what normal times are for triples but that seems pretty damn fast.

[Cubswin11]

starlin went from contact to third base in 10.8 seconds on his triple... i don't know what normal times are for triples but that seems pretty damn fast.

Yeah he isn't slow

[Fred Hornkohl]

i was listening through at-bat, and correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't starlin castro hit his first home run on his first major league swing?

 

yes.

 

Saw two balls and two called strikes before he took the bat off his shoulder.

[illiniguy]

To be clear, this isn't meant as a reply to anyone here.

 

My real concern with this game is that it will raise the expectations for Castro to ridiculous levels. I'm hoping that the idiots don't come out at the first sign of struggle because he's not hitting 30 HR and driving in 120.

 

Nah. He's a rookie, he'll go through some rookie struggles. Once he gets more at-bats, opposing pitchers/coaches/scouts will have more film and scouting reports to get a full evaluation on him, and make the necessary adjustments against him.

 

What I DO hope for is when that DOES happen against Castro, that Castro is capable of making adjustments AFTER the pitchers made adjustments against him.

 

Crap, we better sell high while we can. Do the Jays still want to move Downs or Frasor?

 

In all seriousness, Id expect similar numbers to what Gordon Beckham put up for the Sox last year, around 270's-280's,/mid .300s/mid .400s, as long as Lou sticks with him and dosnt knee jerk him to Iowa after his first 0-8. As long as next yeat he doesnt do anything close to what Beckhams doing so far this year.

I really wouldn't expect a mid .400's slg this year.

Yeah I can't imagine the list of players who have put up mid .400 Sluggings in their 20s is all that long.

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah I can't imagine the list of players who have put up mid .400 Sluggings in their 20s is all that long.

 

Nobody questioned that he would ever put those numbers up "in his 20's." As young as he is right and as much as he'll still develop physically it's perfectly reasonable to assume he's not likely to have a mid .400 slugging his first year in the bigs. If he manages to pull it off everyone will be thrilled. If he doesn't, such is life, and there's still a great chance it'll come down the line.

Edited May 8, 2010 by Sammy Sofa

[bhogg]

no where to go but down. . . . .

[illiniguy]

Yeah I can't imagine the list of players who have put up mid .400 Sluggings in their 20s is all that long.

 

Nobody questioned that he would ever put those numbers up "in his 20's." As young as he is right and as much as he'll still develop physically it's perfectly reasonably to assume he's not likely to have a mid .400 slugging his first year in the bigs. If he manages to pull it off everyone will be thrilled. If he doesn't, such is life, and there's still a great chance it'll come down the line.

Sorry, I mis-typed I meant at age 20.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

starlin went from contact to third base in 10.8 seconds on his triple... i don't know what normal times are for triples but that seems pretty damn fast.

I could easily do it in under 10. If I ran straight to 3rd after hitting the ball.

[TruffleShuffle]

starlin went from contact to third base in 10.8 seconds on his triple... i don't know what normal times are for triples but that seems pretty damn fast.

Yeah he isn't slow

 

BP's kevin goldstein has said multiple times that he has average speed, but does an average runner really beat the throw easily on that liner in the gap yesterday? sure doesn't seem like it to me. he had 5 triples in 26 games at tennessee; hard to do that as an average runner.

[KingCubsFan]

starlin went from contact to third base in 10.8 seconds on his triple... i don't know what normal times are for triples but that seems pretty damn fast.

Yeah he isn't slow

 

BP's kevin goldstein has said multiple times that he has average speed, but does an average runner really beat the throw easily on that liner in the gap yesterday? sure doesn't seem like it to me. he had 5 triples in 26 games at tennessee; hard to do that as an average runner.

He's always been the one guy that has been down on Castro compared to others. Was he the one that compared Brendan Harris to Albert Pujols? Ever since that comment, I've always taken BP's minor league analysis with a grain of salt.

[davell]

One thing I've heard about Castro is he's a guy who rises to the occasion. The guy who's a leader in the clubhouse. He has the "it" factor. The numbers may not be gaudy(other than his Tenn numbers this year) but he's been raved about at each stop. All the way back to when he was in the DSL. Fleita gushes about alot of players, but he's been all about Castro since the DSL.

 

Do the expectations scare me? Yeah, because having a game like he did to start off with, is only going to make some of the fans expect Griffey/A-Rod type stuff out of him. And he's not even a power hitter.

 

But, because of his intangibles, I think he'll be able to handle things pretty well. But stat-wise, I have no clue what to expect......If he posts a .700 OPS as a 20 year old, I think I'll be pretty excited.

 

One thing about him though, is he IS definitely starting to fill out. I can see where guys are coming from when they say he's going to have 50 power on the scouting scale and stuff like that.

[Guest]

Maybe he's only an average speed base stealer at this point, not yet mastering timing and jumps. There was nothing about that triple yesterday that screamed average speed.

[Sammy Sofa]

He's definitely got more muscle on him at this point than I assumed. When they were showing him in practice yesterday I was surprised by the gun show.

[KaiserCesar]

Maybe he's only an average speed base stealer at this point, not yet mastering timing and jumps. There was nothing about that triple yesterday that screamed average speed.

 

Yeah, I think we can see the problem with using base stealing efficiency as a yardstick for speed. Base stealing is a lot more of a learned skill that is developed over time, and for a young player like Castro, the SB #s may not be incredibly indicative of his raw talent. Given what we saw, he could turn out to be a basestealer if he works on it, but for now we can settle on extremely fast on the basepaths, able to go first to third and stretch doubles into triples.

[C.C.]

Yea, He's bigger then I thought he'd be.

[erik316wttn]

As a fun fact, i'm pretty sure Rafael Furcal was the first player born in the 1980's to play in MLB.

[Sosa21MVP]

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100507&content_id=9869048&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

 

On Saturday, he may have to borrow a uniform. The lineup card, Castro's hat and his jersey were authenticated after the game and are expected to go to the Hall of Fame. But clubhouse manager Tom Hellman didn't bring that many extras on the road trip, so Castro might have to borrow someone's jersey.

 

That makes it all even better. One big league game and he already has some of his stuff going to Cooperstown. :hello:

[TruffleShuffle]

As a fun fact, i'm pretty sure Rafael Furcal was the first player born in the 1980's to play in MLB.

 

that was probably before they found out he was born in 1977.

[rawaction]

I'm interested to see him on defense for a long period of time. I didn't see the game, but I believe I saw his only defensive chance (started the 6-4-3 double play). I want to see his range. When he gets to the ball, I want to see him make accurate throws. I want to see him make the routine play consistently. I want to see him get in the appropriate spot for cutoff throws and be able to make the necessary relays to the plate.

 

I think he can provide offense similar to what the Cubs got from the 2B he is replacing. His biggest impact in 2010 will likely be what he gives the middle of the defense as he has a ton of range at SS, and Theriot will have above average range at 2B. He will have better hands and a stronger arm than Theriot. And Theriot should have better hands than the other 2B.

[Sammy Sofa]

I'm interested to see him on defense for a long period of time. I didn't see the game, but I believe I saw his only defensive chance (started the 6-4-3 double play). I want to see his range. When he gets to the ball, I want to see him make accurate throws. I want to see him make the routine play consistently. I want to see him get in the appropriate spot for cutoff throws and be able to make the necessary relays to the plate.

 

I want to see him at 2B when Lee comes up.