Castro

[Guest]

Castro and Cubs hitting coach John Mallee finally found a way for him to reach the outside pitch without rolling it over to short.

 

"We did a little bit of adjustment," Castro said after the game. "Get a little bit closer to home plate."

 

Is that all it took? Castro was all over the place with contact on Tuesday. In the third inning, he got the Cubs' first hit of the game singling through the hole at second base. In the fourth, he doubled to right-center. And then in the sixth, he crushed a ball out to left field for his first home run since June 12.

 

"That's a nice sign for us," Maddon said. "He looked different and better today."

 

And that could be huge for the Cubs down the stretch. Castro has been humbled by his benching. He no longer cares what position he plays or where he bats in the lineup; he just wants in on a winning team. And if it means finally adjusting his stance to reach outside pitches with better contact then maybe he's finally had that epiphany everyone has been waiting on.

 

"No one is throwing in right now," Castro said. "If we're close to the plate, every pitch in is going to be a ball. That's the adjustment we did today. And it worked."

 

Castro hit a ball to right-center again in his final at-bat -- a few more feet into the gap and he might have hit for the cycle. But the Cubs will take the first day of a possibly -- maybe -- a new Castro.

 

"Starlin probably had his best day of the year," Maddon said.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/33583/starlin-castro-has-his-best-day-at-the-plate

[Sammy Sofa]

EVERYONE GET CLOSER TO THE PLATE.

 

Isn't that what Baez has been doing, too?

[Guest]

EVERYONE GET CLOSER TO THE PLATE.

 

Isn't that what Baez has been doing, too?

 

among other things, yeah, he moved considerably closer to the plate.

[Banedon]

EVERYONE GET CLOSER TO THE PLATE.

 

Isn't that what Baez has been doing, too?

 

Soler should do this for sure.

[Cubswin11]

It took them this long to realize Castro was standing too far away from the plate/had to close his stance up a bit????? Jesus

[Felix Leiter]

It took them this long to realize Castro was standing too far away from the plate/had to close his stance up a bit????? Jesus

 

Amazing what sitting on the bench and not participating with this fun team will do for your attitude. We all know Castro's complained about all the batting advice he's received from coaches, managers and FO. But it doesn't improve his baseball acumen and brain lapses. Any improvement increases his trade value in the off-season.

[Guest]

We all know Castro's complained about all the batting advice he's received from coaches, managers and FO.

 

say what now

[weis21]

We all know Castro's complained about all the batting advice he's received from coaches, managers and FO.

 

say what now

hahaha. I know, I was like, "we do?"

[Felix Leiter]

Short attention span theatre members checking in.

[Guest]

Short attention span theatre members checking in.

 

We were kind enough not to accuse you of being a narrative junkie, the least you could do is reciprocate. Or prove that Castro is somehow never happy with his coaches/difficult to work with.

[Sammy Sofa]

It took them this long to realize Castro was standing too far away from the plate/had to close his stance up a bit????? Jesus

 

Well, I'm sure it's a little different when you're trying to fix a guy who has had significant success so far as opposed to someone trying to break in someone new and still in the middle of developing. First priority would likely be to just try and get him back to what had worked before.

[Cubswin11]

It took them this long to realize Castro was standing too far away from the plate/had to close his stance up a bit????? Jesus

 

Well, I'm sure it's a little different when you're trying to fix a guy who has had significant success so far as opposed to someone trying to break in someone new and still in the middle of developing. First priority would likely be to just try and get him back to what had worked before.

I agree, but from the naked eye (not to get all meatbally) it appeared his stance was more open than it has been and he clearly was having problems driving through the ball/getting to outside pitches. But whatever, it's good they identified something and worked out a fix and it has led to better results (albeit very small sample).

[Sammy Sofa]

It took them this long to realize Castro was standing too far away from the plate/had to close his stance up a bit????? Jesus

 

Well, I'm sure it's a little different when you're trying to fix a guy who has had significant success so far as opposed to someone trying to break in someone new and still in the middle of developing. First priority would likely be to just try and get him back to what had worked before.

I agree, but from the naked eye (not to get all meatbally) it appeared his stance was more open than it has been and he clearly was having problems driving through the ball/getting to outside pitches. But whatever, it's good they identified something and worked out a fix and it has led to better results (albeit very small sample).

 

Hey, doesn't sound meatball-y to me. I just hope it works.

[Felix Leiter]

Short attention span theatre members checking in.

 

We were kind enough not to accuse you of being a narrative junkie, the least you could do is reciprocate. Or prove that Castro is somehow never happy with his coaches/difficult to work with.

 

Are you saying that you have never heard that Castro has complained about the batting coaches, managers and the FO? That this is news to you? I don't believe it. It's been going on for at least 3 years. He likes to go up there hacking. He has rebelled against the concept of taking pitches. It's been in all the daily Chicago papers and sports radio. But since you live on the West Coast, possibly it may have slipped by. That's understandable. Do a simple 'Google' search and there are numerous articles dating back to 2013. Here's is but one.

 

“You’re not supposed to think [at the plate]”

“Sometimes you have a tough season and you want to please everybody. But when you listen to everybody, it’s not right. You have to listen to the things that can help you, not everything.”

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2013/08/is-there-a-rift-between-starlin-castro-and-the-cubs/

[Sammy Sofa]

Nothing in that article is even remotely close to this:

 

Castro has complained about the batting coaches, managers and the FO

 

And yes, he's an aggressive hitter. He's always been an aggressive hitter, but he's often been a very productive aggressive hitter. Note that the talk about trying to make adjustments aren't about making him less aggressive; they're adjusting his stance so he can better reach outside pitchers.

[Guest]

I don't really like to be a jerk, but the fact that that is the article you are using to support your claim really pisses me off and I feel extremely compelled to let you know how stupid I think you are. I know you "googled" it but did you even read that article? Every single piece of information contained within that article is prefaced with "if you are like me, it is extremely clear that..." or "there are whispers that..." or "things seem to have..." or "apparently..."

 

You must be like him, in that you are a [expletive] idiot, because nothing in that article was clear and there is no actual evidence to support your ridiculous claim to be found anywhere. And the condescending tone, I guess, just pushed me over the edge. You suck. Really, really bad.

 

Sorry for being mean.

 

PS I hate you.

Edited August 27, 2015 by CoolHandLuke

[Guest]

In the previous post, please replace any instance of the word article, with "article"

 

And replace [expletive] with the real bad word.

[Sammy Sofa]

LUKELUKELUKELUKELUKELUKE!!!!

[Guest]

lmao

 

i knew the comments he was talking about, but i still love the fact that he linked a [expletive] tom loxas blog entry. how fuckign perfect.

[Sammy Sofa]

It is but one.

[Geech]

And it's a post from 2013, no less. Did Castro listen to coaching in 2014 and then stop again in 2015? Did he listen to coaching before 2013?

[BigSlick]

I guess there are few downsides to standing on top of the plate, aside from exposing yourself to more injury and I guess, at a tertiary level, pissing off the other team.

 

More HBP and more plate coverage is good. Thanks Rizzo.

[Guest]

I guess there are few downsides to standing on top of the plate, aside from exposing yourself to more injury and I guess, at a tertiary level, pissing off the other team.

 

More HBP and more plate coverage is good. Thanks Rizzo.

If you can't turn on the inside pitch, you'll get busted over the inside part of the plate a lot if you stand too close.

[Guest]

I guess there are few downsides to standing on top of the plate, aside from exposing yourself to more injury and I guess, at a tertiary level, pissing off the other team.

 

More HBP and more plate coverage is good. Thanks Rizzo.

If you can't turn on the inside pitch, you'll get busted over the inside part of the plate a lot if you stand too close.

 

when they try that, you'll get hit a lot and also standing over the plate might infuence umpires on those calls (as i think has been talked about by len and jd with rizzo)

[Guest]

I guess there are few downsides to standing on top of the plate, aside from exposing yourself to more injury and I guess, at a tertiary level, pissing off the other team.

 

More HBP and more plate coverage is good. Thanks Rizzo.

If you can't turn on the inside pitch, you'll get busted over the inside part of the plate a lot if you stand too close.

 

when they try that, you'll get hit a lot and also standing over the plate might infuence umpires on those calls (as i think has been talked about by len and jd with rizzo)

Also true, but there is a downside, which is the point I was making.