Article: Remember Some Cubs: Sweet Swinging Starlin

[Brandon Glick]

In a new series here at North Side Baseball, we’ll be taking a retrospective look at some of the players who helped the Cubs during some of the “leaner” years of their history. Next up, the Cubs number one prospect in 2010. 

Image courtesy of North Side Baseball & Brock Beauchamp

Technically speaking, some lists, like this one from Fangraphs, dispute Starlin Castro’s ranking as the best prospect in the Cubs system at the time, though most prospect gurus agreed the teenage shortstop was the best they had (side note: take a look at the rest of that list. It’s depressing… and an important reminder that even a system’s best prospects might not work out). Castro had a ton of helium following two seasons in the minor leagues where he did nothing but hit, and on May 7th, 2010, Castro was called up directly from Double-A Tennessee to make his Major League debut. 

Speaking of his debut: holy crap, what a debut it was! The first player born in the 1990s to play in an MLB game [feel old yet?], Castro drove in a record six runs against the Cincinnati Reds, homering in his first at-bat off of Homer Bailey. 

Castro would go on to have a fine rookie season, finishing with a .300/.347/.408 slash line and a fifth-place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting. The debut was impressive from a mere 20-year-old, especially considering the struggles of the rest of the lineup in a down year for the Cubs. He kept it going from there, too, leading the National League in hits with 207 and earning the first of four All-Star appearances in his career (three with the Cubs, one with the Yankees). 

Castro was something of an ironman, a stat-sheet stuffer in his time with the Cubs, leading the National League in at-bats in three consecutive seasons (2011, 2012, 2013), playing all 162 games in both 2012 and 2019 (with Miami), and also posting double-digit stolen bases in each of his first three seasons in the majors (though he led the NL in caught stealing attempts in 2012). He was a ubiquitous presence on the Cubs during Theo Epstein’s rebuild, finally seeing his commitment to the team yield some success as he manned second base on the way to the 2015 NLCS. 

During his tenure on the team, the fanbase was split on Castro. Though he was an annual .300 batting average threat, his lack of plate discipline and fielding troubles (20-plus errors in each of his first four seasons) sometimes made his impact feel empty. He was also questioned for his focus during games, though in hindsight, those platitudes were more reactionary than grounded in empirical fact. For every down moment, there were several highlights that Castro would produce. 

Castro’s Cubs career ended once Epstein’s rebuild began to bear fruit, as he was traded away on December 8th, 2015, to the Yankees for Adam Warren and Brendan Ryan. Of course, fans knew at the time the move was really to free up some cash and a roster spot for Ben Zobrist, a favorite of manager Joe Maddon’s and long an apple of the front office’s eye. 

From there, Castro would finish his career with the Yankees, Marlins, and Nationals, leaving Major League Baseball after some personal troubles and serious allegations were levied against him. Though it was an unceremonious and troubled curtain call to a once-promising career, Castro delivered on the hype he had as a prospect. He ranks in the top 50 all-time with 1615 hits before turning 30, 991 of which were accrued with the Cubs. 

Starlin Castro may have been the face of the Cubs during some of the franchise’s most prolific losing seasons, but he was always there. Odds are, if you went to a ballgame at Wrigley between 2010 and 2015, Castro was starting in the middle infield for the Cubs. Though he wasn’t a part of the team that did win it all in 2016, his chapter in Cubs history will be remembered fondly. 

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[Cubs70]

I had such hopes for Starlin. In the end I think he's a step above Kevin Orie and Bobby Hill. Great promise but didn't live up to the hype

[Tryptamine]

Poor Starlin fell to the same fate that got Josh Vitters and Jason Heyward. Rather than be content with 15ish HR power, the hitting gurus felt they had to tinker with their swings in order to unlock more power and in the end it destroyed their swing entirely. 

[Backtobanks]

3 hours ago, Cubs70 said:

I had such hopes for Starlin. In the end I think he's a step above Kevin Orie and Bobby Hill. Great promise but didn't live up to the hype

He didn't live up to the hype, but he ended up with a 11-year career and made over $70 million while making a few all-star games.

[chopsx9]

Starlin Castro is currently 33.

[Rcal10]

4 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

Poor Starlin fell to the same fate that got Josh Vitters and Jason Heyward. Rather than be content with 15ish HR power, the hitting gurus felt they had to tinker with their swings in order to unlock more power and in the end it destroyed their swing entirely. 

Castro was nothing like Vitters or Heyward. Vitters was just not good, period. Castro was a decent hitter but not a hard worker. That is what cost him. Heyward was a hard worker but his swing always sucked. They are all totally different players who failed all for different reasons. And, IMO none failed because of hitting gurus messing with them. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

Starlin was really good at just putting the ball in play in his first few years, at the cost of having a disciplined approach. He got a lot of singles on pitchers pitches. Trying to unlock more power was logical, but the step that needed to be taken was a more measured approach, and he just never made that leap. 

 

His debut was incredible though. Extremely memorable. He was a lot of fun those first few seasons.

[Derwood]

1722 career hits

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, Derwood said:

1722 career hits

Yep. I think some people misremember him. He didn’t ever really change. No one tried changing him. Hell, his 5th year with the Cubs he has his highest Ops+, and that was only 115. He was a decent ballplayer who had a decent xaeeee, period. No one ruined him. He just never developed behind his first year. He was always an average hitter. Which is a fine career. 

[Brandon Glick]

2 hours ago, Derwood said:

1722 career hits

The 1615 hits stat was specifically before he turned 30-years old (it ranks 47th all time before a player's 30th birthday). 

[Tryptamine]

34 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Yep. I think some people misremember him. He didn’t ever really change. No one tried changing him. Hell, his 5th year with the Cubs he has his highest Ops+, and that was only 115. He was a decent ballplayer who had a decent xaeeee, period. No one ruined him. He just never developed behind his first year. He was always an average hitter. Which is a fine career. 

He started trying to pull the ball more.

[Rcal10]

7 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

He started trying to pull the ball more.

Look at his stats. He was basically the same player when he retired as he was when he started. A guy who was right aeousb league average. He was an ok player. Nothing more. And neve more. 

[Jason Ross]

A few things on Starlin Castro: one, he did start pulling the ball more (and I'll show that in a minute) but also, it didn't ruin him. That feels like a revisionist history. 

The idea that Castro was some excellent hitter in his young career just doesn't hold water. Through his first four seasons, he was a 95 wRC+ hitter. Was he young? Sure, he was just 22 by the end of that sample, but it was clear he wasn't a superstar offensive force regardless of his ability to make contact with the baseball. It was slightly better than the average SS (which hovered in the high 80's for wRC+) but it was also clear he needed to get better if he was going to be anything more.

In 2014, Castro had his best offensive season in his career, a 117 wRC+ season. You know what he did more than he did in his previous four seasons? He pulled the baseball almost 8% more than previous norms. He hit more home runs per fly balls. He hit less ground balls. It is also true he was not as good the next season, but he also stopped walking so much. That's not because he was pulling the ball less, he made an approach change that never seemed to get fixed consistently as this skill would come and go year in and year out. He dropped his walk totals to below 4%. His next 100+ wRC+ season? Go figure it was when his walk rates jumped back up the next two seasons. Back down to 4.1% in 2019, and where did his wRC+ go? Back to 91.

The narrative of "he pulled baseballs and was ruined doesn't appear to be supported by data. He was a decent hitter who had his best seasons when he hit for more power (likely because he pulled the ball more). He stopped walking to much and his offense tanked. Castro's issue were approach on his end, being too much of a free swinger, not because he was pulling the ball. But even then, when he wasn't pulling the ball, it's not like he was some consistent force at the plate either. His 95 wRC+ in his first four seasons was very close to his last 3 seasons, when he put up a 91 wRC+ with Miami and Washington.  

Edited November 26, 2023 by 1908_Cubs

[Rcal10]

7 hours ago, 1908_Cubs said:

A few things on Starlin Castro: one, he did start pulling the ball more (and I'll show that in a minute) but also, it didn't ruin him. That feels like a revisionist history. 

The idea that Castro was some excellent hitter in his young career just doesn't hold water. Through his first four seasons, he was a 95 wRC+ hitter. Was he young? Sure, he was just 22 by the end of that sample, but it was clear he wasn't a superstar offensive force regardless of his ability to make contact with the baseball. It was slightly better than the average SS (which hovered in the high 80's for wRC+) but it was also clear he needed to get better if he was going to be anything more.

In 2014, Castro had his best offensive season in his career, a 117 wRC+ season. You know what he did more than he did in his previous four seasons? He pulled the baseball almost 8% more than previous norms. He hit more home runs per fly balls. He hit less ground balls. It is also true he was not as good the next season, but he also stopped walking so much. That's not because he was pulling the ball less, he made an approach change that never seemed to get fixed consistently as this skill would come and go year in and year out. He dropped his walk totals to below 4%. His next 100+ wRC+ season? Go figure it was when his walk rates jumped back up the next two seasons. Back down to 4.1% in 2019, and where did his wRC+ go? Back to 91.

The narrative of "he pulled baseballs and was ruined doesn't appear to be supported by data. He was a decent hitter who had his best seasons when he hit for more power (likely because he pulled the ball more). He stopped walking to much and his offense tanked. Castro's issue were approach on his end, being too much of a free swinger, not because he was pulling the ball. But even then, when he wasn't pulling the ball, it's not like he was some consistent force at the plate either. His 95 wRC+ in his first four seasons was very close to his last 3 seasons, when he put up a 91 wRC+ with Miami and Washington.  

My point was similar to what you are saying. No one ruined Castro. He was never a great hitter. People exaggerate his ability when he came up. He was fine. He was an ok player. And regardless of how he did it year after year, his end numbers were pretty similar his whole career. Maybe he did pull the ball more as he got older. Maybe he did adjust to do what “the hitting gurus” wanted him to do. The fact is his entire career he was basically around an average hitter. No one ruined him. Started right around 100ops+, got to 117 one year but ended up right around 100 for a career.

[imb]

On 11/25/2023 at 5:37 PM, chopsx9 said:

Starlin Castro is currently 33.

what the hell

[imb]

On 11/25/2023 at 7:11 PM, Derwood said:

1722 career hits

crazy that he's just 33. I remember Jersey saying something during Starlin's rookie year about how easy it would be for him to get to 3,000 hits. 

[Tim]

I feel like Starlin is a decent comp for Matt Shaw's downside. 

[CubinNY]

12 hours ago, Tim said:

I feel like Starlin is a decent comp for Matt Shaw's downside. 

90th percentile, Jeff Kent?

[Sammy Sofa]

Dude was solid/good for 3 of his 5 seasons as a Cubs, which means too many Cubs fans do the very Cubs Fan Thing of acting like he was a disaster, both when he was on the team and to this day.

[chopsx9]

On 11/28/2023 at 9:18 AM, CubinNY said:

90th percentile, Jeff Kent?

Righthanded Chase Utley?