Castro

[Guest]

Backtobanks, just as an FYI, you've now criticized the FO for interfering with the coaches' work, and then criticized the FO for hiring bad coaches in consecutive posts.

 

It's very possible that they hired bad coaches and then told them what they should be teaching.

 

I know, you gotta keep doing you, man.

[Guest]

It really is sounding more and more that Castro and the FO are at odds.

 

Maybe the FO ought to handle FO stuff and let the players, coaches, and manager handle handle the "on the field" stuff.

 

organizational philosophy comes from the executives, the coaches simply enforce that philosophy.

[Careless]

good lord, just when you think he's reached his lowest possible point, he can't transfer the ball from his glove to his hand

[Derwood]

I haven't watched the Cubs forever, but Len and JD seemed to mention his frustration a lot last night

[TruffleShuffle]

seems like he had a much better week... solid defense and hitting the ball with more authority. fingers crossed for a solid end to the season.

[Guest]

 

"Whys, what ifs, he saw more pitches and struggled with it throwing away at-bats," manager Dale Sveum said on ESPNChicago radio 1000 before Saturday's game. "Everybody tried to help him by telling him this and that. Now we want him to have a clean slate."

 

That is exactly what Castro is looking forward to as he starts the last 30 days of the 2013 season.

 

"Be me, that is what I want to be," Castro said. "If I strike out on a bad pitch, so what. I will get it done in the next at-bat. That is the feeling I need. [before], if I missed getting it done in the first at-bat I was [done] in the next three. Now I think if I miss in the first at-bat I know I have three left."

 

Castro has led the team in pitches per at-bat (3.94) most of the season. Contrary to most hitters' approach as they get deep in counts, Castro expands his strike zone, falling prey to unhittable sliders and fastballs right down the middle of the plate.

 

"Today that was one of the hardest-hit balls I have had," Castro said of his solo home run off Zach Miner. "It was especially hard hit because it was a fastball in the middle."

 

"I need to be an aggressive hitter," Castro said. "If I strike out, so what. In the next at-bat I can make an adjustment. I have been looking at too many pitches in one at-bat. Now, I am looking early for fastballs, if they hang a slider or a curveball I will be ready to hit it. I will be looking for fastball in the at-bat."

 

Castro says he believes he has learned a lot from his season-long hitting struggles.

 

"I think it has been all mental," he said. "I know to go to home plate and hit, don't think too much. That is what good hitters do."

 

Castro's game deciding home run was his first long ball since July 31 against Milwaukee. His last four hits have been for extra bases -- three doubles and a home run.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/19547/starlin-castro-wants-to-close-strong

[TruffleShuffle]

yeah, just [expletive] it. let him do his thing. if he never develops as much patience or power as you'd like, he's still a solid defender at a premium position, and can hit .300. still a lot of value in that. not much value in how pathetic he's been this season.

[Guest]

yeah, just [expletive] it. let him do his thing. if he never develops as much patience or power as you'd like, he's still a solid defender at a premium position, and can hit .300. still a lot of value in that. not much value in how pathetic he's been this season.

 

as mojo and i were saying, he's still a valuable player at .750-.775 OPS. With the bats we have coming, he won't need to carry a lineup. he may develop as he goes, he may not need to be forced.

[Beer Kaese]

I am encouraged by what I have seen of late and I hope it continues.

[Guest]

Did not realize that Castro was grading out positive defensively this year.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Did not realize that Castro was grading out positive defensively this year.

 

Who is grading him positively? FG has him with -7 DRS and a -2.8 UZR.

[imb]

Did not realize that Castro was grading out positive defensively this year.

 

Who is grading him positively? FG has him with -7 DRS and a -2.8 UZR.

 

And what does a double-negative make? exactly.

[Guest]

Did not realize that Castro was grading out positive defensively this year.

 

Who is grading him positively? FG has him with -7 DRS and a -2.8 UZR.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4579&position=SS

 

His defense grades out positively after the positional adjustment.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Wouldn't all SSs the way they are applying it?

[Guest]

Wouldn't all SSs the way they are applying it?

 

More or less, it's a new metric and a change in how the Fangraphs dashboard works. By their measures, Castro's defense is slightly worse this year than last year.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

250/298/344 in September. So apparently it wasn't as easy as just going back to his old approach.

[davell]

He had OPS's of .711, .687, .716, and .866 the final 4 months of 2012. At this point, I'm worried.(thanks Tim) With the IF we have on the way, I'd certainly listen on Starlin now.

[Guest]

The only reason to trade Castro now would be if you're 100% convinced he's broken and is never going to return to 2011-2012 levels, much less improve.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The only reason to trade Castro now would be if you're 100% convinced he's broken and is never going to return to 2011-2012 levels, much less improve.

 

Or if you find a buyer who is only slightly more convinced than you are that he will bounce back.

[davell]

That's why I said I'd listen. It's far from give him away time. I'd want major leaguers as the return though. If I were betting though, I still see him as our long term SS. Just not as sure as before.

[Clem Fandango]

Crazy to believe he's finishing out his 4th year in the majors, is a two-time all-star, and a one time Top 5 ROY candidate... and he's still only 23.

[Gilby]

The slash line may be bad for Sep. but the peripherals this month have been much improved if that makes anyone feel better. 5.8% BB and 14.4% K rates with a good amount of line drives. Not that it comes close to cancelling out his horrible season, but it should be brought up if we're going to talk about his September slash line.

[Guest]

The slash line may be bad for Sep. but the peripherals this month have been much improved if that makes anyone feel better. 5.8% BB and 14.4% K rates with a good amount of line drives. Not that it comes close to cancelling out his horrible season, but it should be brought up if we're going to talk about his September slash line.

 

It'd be nice if, like some have suggested, he's trying to "not think" and some of the stuff he was thinking about got stuck in his head anyway...so now he's not thinking about the stuff he was thinking about doing before but he's still doing it, if that makes sense.

 

Seems like that's a good sign. SSS disclaimers and everything.

[Backtobanks]

That's why I said I'd listen. It's far from give him away time. I'd want major leaguers as the return though. If I were betting though, I still see him as our long term SS. Just not as sure as before.

 

The FO ought to always listen to offers on anyone. If someone is going to overpay in a big way, trade him. As other discussions have pointed out, some of our top prospects are going to be traded at some point to build the team, so why not Castro. Next year is another down year and hopefully Baez will be ready full-time in 2015.

[Sammy Sofa]

That's why I said I'd listen. It's far from give him away time. I'd want major leaguers as the return though. If I were betting though, I still see him as our long term SS. Just not as sure as before.

 

The FO ought to always listen to offers on anyone. If someone is going to overpay in a big way, trade him.

 

Yeah, but that's not very likely right now. Trading guys like him or Rizzo is especially foolish given they had down years and they're so young, so it's not like another bad season has them teetering precariously close to the post-30 time of death.