8/27 Cubs (Turner) @ Reds (Latos) 6:10 pm CT CSN

[Irrelevant Dude]

Not a chance a seeing eye grounder to left scores Castro from 2nd with 1 out anyway.

Soler's single was not one that I would consider a "seeing eye" grounder.

[Castros trade value]

Not making excuses but Starlin is probably not all there mentally right now. What he went through takes far more than a few days to get over, let alone keep focused on a diamond.

[bukie]

Not a chance a seeing eye grounder to left scores Castro from 2nd with 1 out anyway.

Soler's single was not one that I would consider a "seeing eye" grounder.

A grounder between SS and 3rd that narrowly missed each is pretty much the definition of a seeing eye grounder.

[treebird]

if i was theo, i'd honestly lean on csn and wgn or whatever and force kaplan out if at all possible. that baldish [expletive] is a parasite and will only be a greater detriment to the organization as the team improves and attracts more attention.

[Agony and Ivy]

That's what makes the narrative racist or at least racially motivated on a local level. Bobby Valentine didn't jump on Starlin because he's brown during that ESPN game he jumped on him because he had his back to the pitcher. Since that one night its become a thing during every Cubs game ever, and he probably will never get away from it, until he does something on a national stage again, like carry a team in the playoffs.

 

Like people are saying, it's not that he doesn't make mistakes, but it's that the few times he makes genuine big mistakes, like the incident above, blows up into EVERY mistake being a big deal regardless of how common or harmless it is.

 

Take Kaplan and Hollandsworth right now; I'm pissed that Starlin watched his hit, but that happens. It's not unique to him, a ton of players do it and it's not going to go away. Benching him isn't going to stop it, yet these two are ranting like it's some kind of crippling issue that's going to infect the other players and "someone needs to act." It's an absurd overreaction to something frustrating but ultimately not a serious issue. He shouldn't have to do something Herculean like carrying the Cubs to the playoffs or beyond to simply be evaluated like most other players are.

 

I honestly don't think Starlin or a single player in that clubhouse gives a flying [expletive] what these guys say. I don't think he's a mentally weak baseball player at all, and by tomorrow I will forget what happened tonight because in the end Rosscup gave up a 10000 foot homer and Starlin doesn't score on the Soler single anyway. On top of that, this team isn't going anywhere this year so it doesn't matter to me.

 

What i was saying is that if he wants (and again he doesn't give a [expletive] about the "narrative" so none of this matters to him or his teammates) he will have to do something like come up big in the playoffs on a big stage. Again, the people that really think these plays are somehow "contagious" are the same people that think runs come from RBI and TWTW, but in the moment that was an incredibly frustrating play, because it's not like Starlin has 300 career homers to look back on and say "I thought I got it all."

[Guest]

i can't wait til tomorrow's game :)

[Agony and Ivy]

Not a chance a seeing eye grounder to left scores Castro from 2nd with 1 out anyway.

Soler's single was not one that I would consider a "seeing eye" grounder.

A grounder between SS and 3rd that narrowly missed each is pretty much the definition of a seeing eye grounder.

 

Honestly he smoked it which makes it even less likely that Castro scores.

[Guest]

Not making excuses but Starlin is probably not all there mentally right now. What he went through takes far more than a few days to get over, let alone keep focused on a diamond.

 

Wow, Kaplan is such an asshat:

 

‏@thekapman 45m

 

Quit making excuses. Wow! RT @jefe24dq: @thekapman guy just got off the bereavement list. Has had a great season, relax.

[Sammy Sofa]

I honestly don't think Starlin or a single player in that clubhouse gives a flying [expletive] what these guys say. I don't think he's a mentally weak baseball player at all, and by tomorrow I will forget what happened tonight because in the end Rosscup gave up a 10000 foot homer and Starlin doesn't score on the Soler single anyway. On top of that, this team isn't going anywhere this year so it doesn't matter to me.

 

I hope it doesn't bug them. All I know is that it annoys the piss out of me.

 

What i was saying is that if he wants (and again he doesn't give a [expletive] about the "narrative" so none of this matters to him or his teammates) he will have to do something like come up big in the playoffs on a big stage. Again, the people that really think these plays are somehow "contagious" are the same people that think runs come from RBI and TWTW, but in the moment that was an incredibly frustrating play, because it's not like Starlin has 300 career homers to look back on and say "I thought I got it all."

 

I don't think being some kind of playoff hero would end this unless he won them the WS in walkoff fashion and then immediately retired.

[Agony and Ivy]

Not making excuses but Starlin is probably not all there mentally right now. What he went through takes far more than a few days to get over, let alone keep focused on a diamond.

 

Dude, I have to admit, I completely forgot about that and you're probably right.

 

I am a Buffalo Bills fan too, and I know when Marcel Dareus' brother was killed it took him half the season to look right on the field. It's very easy to forget these guys are human.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Starlin Castro is a light-hitting shortstop?

 

He's not a power hitter. I wasn't comparing him to other shortstops, because he's a terrific offensive shortstop, so maybe that was bad phrasing? Either way you don't stand there and admire a ball to the deepest part of the field when you're a 15 homer guy. It has nothing to do with earning it or anything like that, you just have to know you're not a 420 foot homer guy so there is no way that's a no doubter.

 

OK. Just making sure frustration over a boneheaded play tonight wasn't causing anyone to lose sight of Castro's ability. 3rd among qualified shortstops in SLG and OPS. Not a light-hitting shortstop. Not even close.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

if i was theo, i'd honestly lean on csn and wgn or whatever and force kaplan out if at all possible. that baldish [expletive] is a parasite and will only be a greater detriment to the organization as the team improves and attracts more attention.

 

Even other sports media types on twitter are calling him out for being a lunatic tonight.

[Castros trade value]

Not making excuses but Starlin is probably not all there mentally right now. What he went through takes far more than a few days to get over, let alone keep focused on a diamond.

 

Wow, Kaplan is such an asshat:

 

‏@thekapman 45m

 

Quit making excuses. Wow! RT @jefe24dq: @thekapman guy just got off the bereavement list. Has had a great season, relax.

 

He's always had issues with Castro. That tweet doesn't surprise me a bit. Typical of Kaplan. Again, no excuse not to run there but Starlin can't be over what he just went through just yet.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

What a damn moron.

[Agony and Ivy]

I honestly don't think Starlin or a single player in that clubhouse gives a flying [expletive] what these guys say. I don't think he's a mentally weak baseball player at all, and by tomorrow I will forget what happened tonight because in the end Rosscup gave up a 10000 foot homer and Starlin doesn't score on the Soler single anyway. On top of that, this team isn't going anywhere this year so it doesn't matter to me.

 

I hope it doesn't bug them. All I know is that it annoys the piss out of me.

 

What i was saying is that if he wants (and again he doesn't give a [expletive] about the "narrative" so none of this matters to him or his teammates) he will have to do something like come up big in the playoffs on a big stage. Again, the people that really think these plays are somehow "contagious" are the same people that think runs come from RBI and TWTW, but in the moment that was an incredibly frustrating play, because it's not like Starlin has 300 career homers to look back on and say "I thought I got it all."

 

I don't think being some kind of playoff hero would end this unless he won them the WS in walkoff fashion and then immediately retired.

 

I think you underestimate what a playoff appearance will do for everyone on this team. Again, it doesn't matter what pundits and dumbass reporters or message board posters say because it's not going to make Starlin a less valuable player and the Cubs front office isn't stupid enough to trade a guy because sometimes he has mental lapses when he hits .280 with 15 HRs at premium position. It can annoy you to all get out, but you can't change the narrative or if someone really is a racist piece of [expletive]. The play tonight pissed me off for about 15 minutes, then I realized it was a super emotional reaction to a single play in a game that doesn't matter on a play that was inconsequential in the outcome of that meaningless game.

 

Yes it sucks that Starlin has mental lapses and gets crucified for them when other players don't, and a lot of that is bad luck and bad timing and possibly some sort of racism, but he's a damn good baseball player and I am going to enjoy watching him be part of some successful Cubs teams.

[Castros trade value]

if i was theo, i'd honestly lean on csn and wgn or whatever and force kaplan out if at all possible. that baldish [expletive] is a parasite and will only be a greater detriment to the organization as the team improves and attracts more attention.

 

Even other sports media types on twitter are calling him out for being a lunatic tonight.

 

http://i0.wp.com/tribwgnam.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/davidkaplanwinter2012cropped.jpg?crop=0px%2C82px%2C800px%2C451px&resize=314%2C177

[Guest]

if i was theo, i'd honestly lean on csn and wgn or whatever and force kaplan out if at all possible. that baldish [expletive] is a parasite and will only be a greater detriment to the organization as the team improves and attracts more attention.

 

Even other sports media types on twitter are calling him out for being a lunatic tonight.

 

David Kaplan @thekapman · 1h

You're not that dumb. That play was BS. RT @desipiodotcom: Stop. Just. Stop. People [expletive] up. It happens. Hell, you broadcast yours all day.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

if i was theo, i'd honestly lean on csn and wgn or whatever and force kaplan out if at all possible. that baldish [expletive] is a parasite and will only be a greater detriment to the organization as the team improves and attracts more attention.

 

Even other sports media types on twitter are calling him out for being a lunatic tonight.

 

David Kaplan @thekapman · 1h

You're not that dumb. That play was BS. RT @desipiodotcom: Stop. Just. Stop. People [expletive] up. It happens. Hell, you broadcast yours all day.

 

Gordon Wittenmyer ‏@GDubCub 39m

@thekapman Dude, chill. Not to defend, but that over-the-top approach on a per-play basis would leave about 100 guys in the big leagues.

[Guest]

I wish CSN had never hired him. Until then, I had only heard of him as that guy on that show on WGN that I never listened to.

 

When was that? 2010?

[Castros trade value]

if i was theo, i'd honestly lean on csn and wgn or whatever and force kaplan out if at all possible. that baldish [expletive] is a parasite and will only be a greater detriment to the organization as the team improves and attracts more attention.

 

Even other sports media types on twitter are calling him out for being a lunatic tonight.

 

David Kaplan @thekapman · 1h

You're not that dumb. That play was BS. RT @desipiodotcom: Stop. Just. Stop. People [expletive] up. It happens. Hell, you broadcast yours all day.

 

Gordon Wittenmyer ‏@GDubCub 39m

@thekapman Dude, chill. Not to defend, but that over-the-top approach on a per-play basis would leave about 100 guys in the big leagues.

 

Tell him, Gordy!

[Bobson Dugnutt]

I wish CSN had never hired him. Until then, I had only heard of him as that guy on that show on WGN that I never listened to.

 

When was that? 2010?

 

2008

[Guest]

I wish CSN had never hired him. Until then, I had only heard of him as that guy on that show on WGN that I never listened to.

 

When was that? 2010?

 

2008

 

I don't remember him from then. Just remember Plesac, Gail Fisher, and Otto doing all things Cubs. Was his role more limited?

[Bobson Dugnutt]

I wish CSN had never hired him. Until then, I had only heard of him as that guy on that show on WGN that I never listened to.

 

When was that? 2010?

 

2008

 

I don't remember him from then. Just remember Plesac, Gail Fisher, and Otto doing all things Cubs. Was his role more limited?

 

I think that's when he took over for Jiggets on Chicago Tribune Live. Don't think he was doing much else for them right off the bat.

[weis21]

That loss does not bother me. That was not a bad loss.

 

Other than a small fear that maybe Turner has Edwin Jackson Disease.

 

I'm not caring what kind of results Turner has this year at all. They're not going to change much with him before the offseason anyway.

I'm catching up on the game thread tonight, so apologies if this has since been repeated or talked about. But, I earmarked this post as I'm moving through to say the exact same thing.

 

It's not like "Bosio's magic" is a kickass pregame speech. It's working with a pitcher to find flaws. More often than not, that's going to take time. Also, aforementioned was that Arrieta didn't set the world on fire with the Cubs directly after him being traded from Baltimore. IIRC, it was in part his posture/positioning of weight when he delivered a pitch coupled with the cutter, of course. Turner hasn't only pedigree, but also peripherals that most would agree can likely be a back of the rotation starter. With some bosio/arrietta-type magic, he's got TOR potential.

[wekim81]

So today was interesting.

 

I will bet you Kap backtracks within the next 12 hours. Either on Twitter or on his radio show. There's gonna be pressure from above.

 

What Castro did tonight given what he's been through doesn't bother me. Didn't change the endgame.