Castro

[hawkeyecub]

 

Incredibly. At this point, they may as well just DL him, call up Javy, and send him back in for repairs in the offseason.

 

Because that's something you can just do with no repercussions.

 

Is it? Because who the hell knows, assuming the player is down with it. As I recall, a few years back when Zack Greinke came out with his social anxiety disorder, and suddenly underpermforming players such as Dontrelle Willis and Milton Bradley were coming out of the woodwork saying "oh yeah, I have that too," there was debate (I believe S.I.) over whether or not a seperate DL for "mental breaks" should be a thing. Maybe it should be.

 

Cripes. No, I was being sarcastic. Starlin isn't going to agree to a phony injury to be shut down for 2 months in a playoff race so that someone younger and cheaper can take his job, thus ending his season with the worst numbers of his career.

[Sammy Sofa]

 

Incredibly. At this point, they may as well just DL him, call up Javy, and send him back in for repairs in the offseason.

 

Because that's something you can just do with no repercussions.

 

Is it? Because who the hell knows, assuming the player is down with it. As I recall, a few years back when Zack Greinke came out with his social anxiety disorder, and suddenly underpermforming players such as Dontrelle Willis and Milton Bradley were coming out of the woodwork saying "oh yeah, I have that too," there was debate (I believe S.I.) over whether or not a seperate DL for "mental breaks" should be a thing. Maybe it should be.

 

Cripes. No, I was being sarcastic. Starlin isn't going to agree to a phony injury to be shut down for 2 months in a playoff race so that someone younger and cheaper can take his job, thus ending his season with the worst numbers of his career.

 

Plus social anxiety disorder is an actual diagnosis, and then SCS starts going on about a DL about nebulous "mental break" stints. If a player goes on the DL for something like SAD it's for actual medical reasons, not because he just needs some time to clear his head or have a timeout because they're playing poorly.

[Little Slide Rooter]

 

Incredibly. At this point, they may as well just DL him, call up Javy, and send him back in for repairs in the offseason.

 

Because that's something you can just do with no repercussions.

 

Is it? Because who the hell knows, assuming the player is down with it. As I recall, a few years back when Zack Greinke came out with his social anxiety disorder, and suddenly underpermforming players such as Dontrelle Willis and Milton Bradley were coming out of the woodwork saying "oh yeah, I have that too," there was debate (I believe S.I.) over whether or not a seperate DL for "mental breaks" should be a thing. Maybe it should be.

 

Cripes. No, I was being sarcastic. Starlin isn't going to agree to a phony injury to be shut down for 2 months in a playoff race so that someone younger and cheaper can take his job, thus ending his season with the worst numbers of his career.

 

Plus social anxiety disorder is an actual diagnosis, and then SCS starts going on about a DL about nebulous "mental break" stints. If a player goes on the DL for something like SAD it's for actual medical reasons, not because he just needs some time to clear his head or have a timeout because they're playing poorly.

 

And I know that it's an actual diagnosis. What I'm saying is that after he was diagnosed with it, there was a sudden slew of players who claimed to have it (don't have a link, but there was an SI article about Greinke's struggle when he was diagnosed, also featuring Willis, Bradley, Ian Snell, among others.)

 

And with or without a diagnosis, I can understand how tremendously stressful a line of work professional sports can be. All poor multi-millionaire jokes aside, when compared to other high paid celebrities who don't have a packed arena full of drunks and meatheads mercilously booing and heckling when they [expletive] up, so who knows what kind of emotional toll it can take. And keep in mind, this is a 25 head old far, far away from home.

 

My point is that I don't think it's unreasonable to have an inactivity list (say 5-7 days) for guys who simply need a mental break.

 

Cripes. No, I was being sarcastic.

 

And yes, I know.

[jersey cubs fan]

[tweet]

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[Guest]

Did we miss this?

 

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/7/71/855937/speculation-cubs-starlin-castro-plans-seek-add-diagnosis

 

PITTSBURGH – It’s called attention deficit disorder, or ADD.

 

“I know what it is,” Starlin Castro said.

 

 

That doesn’t mean the Cubs’ shortstop wants to know anything more than that about the subject.

 

Throughout Castro’s career, mental lapses, moments of lost focus and inexplicable errors on routine plays have raised speculation among fans, scouts and even some in his organization – including the clubhouse — that he has a form of the common disorder.

 

In recent years some close to him have encouraged him to be tested, according to sources.

 

But he doesn’t want to be, he said, even if a diagnosis and treatment could raise his performance – even as a three-month slump, and more recent fielding issues, have called the three-time All-Star’s playing time into question down the stretch.

 

 

ADD/ADHD drugs such as the amphetamine Adderall are said to be effective enough that they’ve even been used as performance enhancers by athletes who don’t have medical reasons to take it.

 

About 10 percent of major leaguers have therapeutic use exemptions for that drug – or about twice the national adult prevalence of ADHD.

 

Castro, 25, said he doesn’t take drugs for any conditions and doesn’t like the idea of starting. In this case, he said, team officials have never asked him to be tested.

 

“If somebody tells me, `You need this, go try it,’ I’ll go try,” he said. “But I don’t think I want to do it on my own.”

 

Said manager Joe Maddon: “I’m glad to hear that, actually.”

 

the fact that this speculative piece bothers me aside, i'm a little surprised team doctors have never evaluated him for it.

[Guest]

don't give him page views, link to the desipio teardown

[jersey cubs fan]

I saw people asking Baker about it last night on twitter.

[Andy]

I'm not super familiar with ADD/ADHD in a 'I've been around it' sense, but wouldn't it take more than just the occasional mental lapse to credibly say there's a chance someone has it? That seems like a writer trying way too hard to find a different angle during a long baseball season.

[sontensei]

My Nephew has ADHD and he always had trouble focusing in class and causing trouble (that one kid who disrupts the teacher speaking or running all over the place instead of getting in line), which is why his school recommended to my sister to have him checked out.

 

So that said, the only thing I can see that may indicate this is Castro's lack of focus which we see when he makes defensive mistakes.. however I at least haven't seen the Hyperactivity side of ADHD from Castro, its more than likely something that only people who know him off the field can experience.

[Clem Fandango]

Well, it works for Chris Davis. So if Starlin takes it he should start hitting 40 dingers, too, right?

[sontensei]

Well, it works for Chris Davis. So if Starlin takes it he should start hitting 40 dingers, too, right?

 

Probably not but maybe he can get back to hitting .300?

[Banedon]

Did we miss this?

 

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/7/71/855937/speculation-cubs-starlin-castro-plans-seek-add-diagnosis

 

PITTSBURGH – It’s called attention deficit disorder, or ADD.

 

“I know what it is,” Starlin Castro said.

 

 

That doesn’t mean the Cubs’ shortstop wants to know anything more than that about the subject.

 

Throughout Castro’s career, mental lapses, moments of lost focus and inexplicable errors on routine plays have raised speculation among fans, scouts and even some in his organization – including the clubhouse — that he has a form of the common disorder.

 

In recent years some close to him have encouraged him to be tested, according to sources.

 

But he doesn’t want to be, he said, even if a diagnosis and treatment could raise his performance – even as a three-month slump, and more recent fielding issues, have called the three-time All-Star’s playing time into question down the stretch.

 

 

ADD/ADHD drugs such as the amphetamine Adderall are said to be effective enough that they’ve even been used as performance enhancers by athletes who don’t have medical reasons to take it.

 

About 10 percent of major leaguers have therapeutic use exemptions for that drug – or about twice the national adult prevalence of ADHD.

 

Castro, 25, said he doesn’t take drugs for any conditions and doesn’t like the idea of starting. In this case, he said, team officials have never asked him to be tested.

 

“If somebody tells me, `You need this, go try it,’ I’ll go try,” he said. “But I don’t think I want to do it on my own.”

 

Said manager Joe Maddon: “I’m glad to hear that, actually.”

 

the fact that this speculative piece bothers me aside, i'm a little surprised team doctors have never evaluated him for it.

 

I saw it a few days late and I figured that I'd missed the discussion here somewhere.

[ARCubsFan]

We've finally reached the benching of Starlin phase

[tweet]

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[jersey cubs fan]

We've finally reached the benching of Starlin phase

[tweet]

[/tweet]

take me off ignore

[jersey cubs fan]

[tweet]

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[tweet]

[/tweet]

[Sammy Sofa]

If you told me before the season that a playoff battling Cubs would be Frankenstein-ing the [expletive] out of their lineup in August by benching Castro, Schwarber being up and in LF, and they'd be desperate to keep Chris Coghlan, THEIR THIRD BEST HITTER, in the lineup by any means necessary I would have punched you in the snout.

[Sammy Sofa]

Plus Bryant sucks, Soler is the hardest singles hitter of all time and a defensive monster, etc., etc..

 

What a weird game.

[sontensei]

Yeah its definitely strange to see all these kids besides baez up here playing daily,. and I am surprised that Castro actually got benched.

[Guest]

My Nephew has ADHD and he always had trouble focusing in class and causing trouble (that one kid who disrupts the teacher speaking or running all over the place instead of getting in line), which is why his school recommended to my sister to have him checked out.

 

So that said, the only thing I can see that may indicate this is Castro's lack of focus which we see when he makes defensive mistakes.. however I at least haven't seen the Hyperactivity side of ADHD from Castro, its more than likely something that only people who know him off the field can experience.

 

ADD doesn't have to have a hyperactivity component, it can be a few different sub-categories. One being "inattentive type."

[Sammy Sofa]

My Nephew has ADHD and he always had trouble focusing in class and causing trouble (that one kid who disrupts the teacher speaking or running all over the place instead of getting in line), which is why his school recommended to my sister to have him checked out.

 

So that said, the only thing I can see that may indicate this is Castro's lack of focus which we see when he makes defensive mistakes.. however I at least haven't seen the Hyperactivity side of ADHD from Castro, its more than likely something that only people who know him off the field can experience.

 

ADD doesn't have to have a hyperactivity component, it can be a few different sub-categories. One being "inattentive type."

 

Yeah, that's what I was diagnosed with as a kid. I was the complete opposite of hyperactive.

[Banedon]

@markgrotesports

 

Castro taking grounders at third. @Cubs

[Guest]

http://cubsrelated.blogspot.com/2015/08/castro-did-something-neat-to-his.html

[Guest]

It's obviously powered significantly by yesterday's game, but Castro is hitting .300/.327/.440 in August.

[DilusionalFan]

so if Castro goes on a mini tear (or even just plays well enough to be useful) and reestablishes a sliver of trade value, do you trade him in the offseason? I like castro a lot but I'd have to think if he can help bring back a more useful piece (if he can recover some trade value) then Id have to really consider moving him.

 

I will say he has, at least from what I have seen, handled this situation very well. (as well as you can when everything about your game is abysmal)

[Guest]

so if Castro goes on a mini tear (or even just plays well enough to be useful) and reestablishes a sliver of trade value, do you trade him in the offseason? I like castro a lot but I'd have to think if he can help bring back a more useful piece (if he can recover some trade value) then Id have to really consider moving him.

 

I will say he has, at least from what I have seen, handled this situation very well. (as well as you can when everything about your game is abysmal)

 

i think if he continues to hit well and the FO believes it's the result of actual adjustments and not just luck, we are probably best off keeping him. that probably gets us more value than the return he's likely to command.

 

then again he has shown twice now a propensity to completely go off the rails so i'm not sure what i'd want to do.