The Starlin Castro thread.

[TruffleShuffle]

Whoever thought this guy was polished enough to play one of the most important defensive positions on the field is crazy

 

Yes but it seems to be that Castro is ready to join the big leagues. He showed it in ST and has shown it in the minors. I don't think he can really develop any more down there. He has maxed out the development he could get in the minors.

 

Yeah! Crazy bastards!

 

lol

[Wilson A2000]

Whoever thought this guy was polished enough to play one of the most important defensive positions on the field is crazy

 

Yes but it seems to be that Castro is ready to join the big leagues. He showed it in ST and has shown it in the minors. I don't think he can really develop any more down there. He has maxed out the development he could get in the minors.

 

Yeah! Crazy bastards!

 

lol

 

The same person who hacked Lindsay Lohan's Twitter account must have done the same to my NSSB account. I'm going to send Tim a PM on this.

[C.C.]

Whoever thought this guy was polished enough to play one of the most important defensive positions on the field is crazy

 

Yes but it seems to be that Castro is ready to join the big leagues. He showed it in ST and has shown it in the minors. I don't think he can really develop any more down there. He has maxed out the development he could get in the minors.

 

Yeah! Crazy bastards!

 

Haha! The game will drive you crazy.

[Jake]

Whoever thought this guy was polished enough to play one of the most important defensive positions on the field is crazy

If only there was a place players could play to keep developing.

Like Pittsburgh?

:-))

[RegulusBlue]

Current line:

 

.364 .417 .636

 

Still working it at the plate. Lou put him at the two spot, but today he's relegated to the 8 spot again...

 

[-X

[TruffleShuffle]

hey it never hurts to pad the OBP with walks in front of the pitcher.

[Cubs Fan Dan]

Starlin Castro is the only reason I am going out of my way to watch games. He is looking better and better by the day defensively and looks like he has been in the league a couple of years offensively.

[Guest]

Five walks and two strikeouts in 27 AB's is a great start.

[CubColtPacer]

Five walks and two strikeouts in 27 AB's is a great start.

 

I like the strikeouts number. The walk rate is definitely misleading because 2 were intentional and 1-2 more were likely somewhat intentional. He'd probably only have 2-3 walks (and probably closer to 2) in a different spot in the order which is still ok for him.

[dew1679666265]

Hasn't he started every game since being up?

[NCCubFan]

Yes he has. And I believe he has at least one hit in all but one game (and I believe he had a walk in that game).

[Fred Hornkohl]

Castro         AB    R    H   2b   3b   HR  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS  BABIP  P/PA     RC   IsoD   RBI%
05/07           5    1    2    0    1    1    6    0    0  0.400  0.400  1.400  1.800  0.250  3.60    2.8  0.000  0.625
05/08           4    1    1    1    0    0    0    0    0  0.250  0.250  0.500  0.750  0.250  3.25    0.5  0.000  0.000
05/09           3    0    1    0    0    0    0    0    1  0.333  0.333  0.333  0.667  0.500  5.33    0.3  0.000  0.000
05/10           2    0    0    0    0    0    0    2    1  0.000  0.500  0.000  0.500  0.000  4.00    0.0  0.500  0.000
05/11           4    0    2    0    0    0    0    0    0  0.500  0.500  0.500  1.000  0.500  2.50    1.0  0.000  0.000
05/12           4    1    2    0    0    0    0    0    0  0.500  0.500  0.500  1.000  0.500  2.25    1.0  0.000  0.000
05/14           2    0    1    0    0    0    0    2    0  0.500  0.750  0.500  1.250  0.500  3.50    0.8  0.250  0.000
05/15           3    1    1    0    0    0    0    1    0  0.333  0.500  0.333  0.833  0.333  3.25    0.5  0.167  0.000

season totals  27    4   10    1    1    1    6    5    2  0.370  0.469  0.593  1.061  0.375  3.41    7.5  0.098  0.313

[Rob]

That BABIP is pretty high, but even tweaking it down to his xBABIP I'm coming up with a line of .319/.425/.524

 

That doesn't exactly have a whole bunch of predicative value with 32 PA, but it does show that Castro is legitimately hitting very well at the moment. Of course, the real challenge will be after the pitchers get the book on him and he has to start making adjustments, but I have faith.

[J.R.]

3/5, run, SB. Not bad.

[MWV]

3/5, run, SB. Not bad.

Plus a pretty slick DP turn with the bases loaded. Starlin Castro is a badass.

[RegulusBlue]

Current line:

 

.361/.439/.528

 

BABIP .364

 

Looking better on defense. The boy is playing well.

[hardcorecubfan]

Question:

does anybody at the game hold up a "Castrometer" similar to the beloved "shawnometer"

[imb]

The most impressive thing so far to me is his composure. I mean he comes up and hits a HR in his first at bat, finishes with 6 RBIs. He's tearing the cover off the ball from day 1 and that's impressive enough.

 

But then he comes to wrigley, makes a million errors and gets booed. Would anyone have sweated him if he freaked out a little bit and started pressing? But he just shrugged it off and kept hitting.

 

Eventually pitchers will figure out a way to get him out and he'll have to make adjustments and blahblahblah, but even if he finishes the season hitting .270, he's basically shown everything that a 20-year old shortstop could show in his first season to make you think he's going to be a stud. And he's done it in 15 games or whatever.

[jersey cubs fan]

did he cut his hair?

[lumafia]

I've been watching video of his swing, and here is what I've come up with:

 

Strengths:

He has amazingly quick hands. Maybe some of the quickest hands in all of baseball. He is able to hit any ball within reach, and his quick hands allow him more time to see the ball.

 

He hits the ball deep in the hitting zone. Many hitters like to hit the ball out in front, and in an ideal world, this is where a hitter can thrive because of the dimensions of the ballparks. Because Castro hits the ball further back in the hitting zone, he's able to keep his bat in the hitting zone longer, thus improving the likelihood of contact and solid contact. Also, this allows him to wait longer to gauge velocity, movement and location, also improving contact and solid contact.

 

Weaknesses:

Haven't really had enough AB's to see any big weaknesses, but his relatively high leg kick is a concern. In most cases, the raising and planting of the front foot is nothing more than a timing mechanism, but can become a hinderance to a hitter if the hitter puts his foot down too late. Again, the timing mechanism is more of a mental preparation, and technically, has no effect on the mechanics of a swing. There are many great hitters who did not pick their front foot off the ground (Moises Alou and Garciaparra are a couple that would be familiar to Cub fans). It can, however, effect the commitment of a player. A player with a pronounced leg kick CAN become overly committed to swinging and it can effect their perceived patience. If you combine that with Castro's ability to hit anything he can reach because of his superior hand-eye coordination and fast hands, you could be in for a ton of bad balls being put into play when he could be waiting for a better pitch to hit. As long as he keeps showing "patience" like he is now, it won't be an issue. However, pitchers will start to bust him inside with his large leg kick when they figure that out, and that could force him to stretch the zone. With his quick hands, the pitchers would have to almost be perfect with their pitches, but it could be an issue in the forseeable future for him.

 

All of that being said, there are many great hitters in baseball that had pronounced leg kicks. Manny Ramirez early in his career is a good example. IF this becomes an issue, Castro can simply adjust his timing mechanism appropriately and/or add strength to compensate. Based on what I've seen so far, barring injury, this kid will have a great career.

[weis21]

great post.

 

I definitely agree with your assessment as to his hand speed. The base hit he had tonight in the bottom of the eighth was about 6 inches off the ground and appeared to be a pretty good pitch. He just waited it out, reacted, flicked his wrists, and made solid contact anyway (a la Vlad Guerrero).

[GhostRunner]

Question:

does anybody at the game hold up a "Castrometer" similar to the beloved "shawnometer"

I'm wondering if the hawkers outside Wrigley are selling any "Castro-ate the Cardinals" T-shirts or similar. Only a matter of time.

[Derwood]

Question:

does anybody at the game hold up a "Castrometer" similar to the beloved "shawnometer"

 

no, because Castro is young and good and the Shawon-o-meter was to make fun of Dunston for being old and bad

[Ding Dong Johnson]

did he cut his hair?

I miss the sweet 'fro

[Sammy Sofa]

did he cut his hair?

 

No. Castro is so powerful that he just wills it in.