IST: Cubs @ San Diego

[CSF77]

Got in a pinch. Probably didn't plan on him going much longer


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I'll bet it was planned that he wouldn't go through the line up a 3rd time. His BAA on the 3rd time last year was .360. He could have gotten 5 in if he put them down in order that inning but it got away from him.

 

[CSF77]

Defense? Rookie year Castro at .950 and Russell at .958. Castro's bat easily made up the tiny difference. He is an offensive player. The defense is what it is. Castro only drives people nuts who want to be driven nuts.

You can't even use his D in an argument. He has been playing off his reg position. Worst argument point ever.

 

[CSF77]

Um what? You just proved your misguided perception of Castro.

Addison Russell first month

100 PA, .247 BA, .300 OBP, .409 SLG, 37% K rate, 7 % walk rate

Castro

87 PA, .310 AVG, .355 OBP, .414 SLG, 12.6% K rate, 6.5 % walk rate

What are you talking about?

Russell was rushed. I doubt he was ready to hit the big leagues. But the fact the team was winning forced this move.

SO:BB: 5.42 Minors career: 2.2

about 2x's. He is over his head for sure as that is over 2x's his minor league mark. But the fact he has been hitting .250 while struggling just points to his potential when adapted.

Let's fact it he will not always be what we see. Just like Baez won't be a .200 hitter vs major league pitching. They are too talented/driven to not make the adjustments.

 

[Parade_Rain]

You can't even use his D in an argument. He has been playing off his reg position. Worst argument point ever.

No offense, but yes you can. Fielding is equal. Throwing errors at this point are not.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Russell was rushed. I doubt he was ready to hit the big leagues. But the fact the team was winning forced this move.

SO:BB: 5.42 Minors career: 2.2

about 2x's. He is over his head for sure as that is over 2x's his minor league mark. But the fact he has been hitting .250 while struggling just points to his potential when adapted.

Let's fact it he will not always be what we see. Just like Baez won't be a .200 hitter vs major league pitching. They are too talented/driven to not make the adjustments.

Russell was rushed? How old was Castro when he hit Wrigley?

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Russell was rushed? How old was Castro when he hit Wrigley?

I don't get that narrative either. Russell would have been on a lot of rosters, including his previous team's, to start the season. With kids with his kind of maturity sometimes I think that development after a certain plateau moves faster in MLB than it does in the minor leagues.

 

[SilenceS]

Russell was rushed. I doubt he was ready to hit the big leagues. But the fact the team was winning forced this move.

SO:BB: 5.42 Minors career: 2.2

about 2x's. He is over his head for sure as that is over 2x's his minor league mark. But the fact he has been hitting .250 while struggling just points to his potential when adapted.

Let's fact it he will not always be what we see. Just like Baez won't be a .200 hitter vs major league pitching. They are too talented/driven to not make the adjustments.

Castro was younger and rushed the same. My point is not anything against Russell is that people have this dumb perception of Castro still.

 

[SilenceS]

You can't even use his D in an argument. He has been playing off his reg position. Worst argument point ever.

His errors have been routine plays. Baez said before he chose second over third because the transition is much easier to second. Same angles just opposite. Also, veCastro was a second baseman most of his minor career then got switch to short. The argument is very much the same. No one is ragging on Russell, but we have people declaring he is set in stone and the next leader. No, he has a lot to prove to do that. Castro is going to have a 1000 hits by the end of this season. Ill take that track record. He is going to get hot. He has had bad mays for the last 3 years. Its baseball. Its a weird game

 

[TC in Mississippi]

To add to that a little this business of playing out of position is way overblown. These guys are baseball players, they've been playing since they were kids. If they have middle infield bodies, or even in between bodies, they've played all the infield positions at some point. It's not like asking him to catch, or pitch. The point is Russell needs to tighten up his focus on defense. I think he'll do that but really who knows for sure?. Castro probably is what he is but it's not like he's the butcher of Wrigley either, we've seen a few of those. Everyone has a bias regarding these infielders, and I'll through Baez in the mix as well, and it shows in the posts. We all do it, including me. the least we can do is admit it and stick to the facts as we know them instead of finding things like Russell switching positions to bolster our own PoV. It doesn't change the arguments one bit.

 

[TL1961]

Defense? Rookie year Castro at .950 and Russell at .958. Castro's bat easily made up the tiny difference. He is an offensive player. The defense is what it is. Castro only drives people nuts who want to be driven nuts.

No, that couldn't be more inaccurate. It is not "people who want to be driven nuts". It is people who know that fundamentals and heads up play win games. Not taking the extra base, allowing the other guy the rxtra base...those things lose games.

You don't have to agree Russell is a better defender or more headsup ballplayer. You don't have to agree with me and every single baseball fan or expert who has seen Castro play.

 

[TL1961]

I have been. castro fan, supporter, defender. But my eyes don't lie. Few SS allow a man to score from 3rd on a popup because they werent paying attention, for example.

I am not here to beat Castro up. I argued all offseason they'd be nuts to trade him.

But there is no question he has lacked focus and general baseball IQ.

And let's not compare Russell' s first three weeks.

Castro has talent. If he had desire and smarts he could be a star. I most certainly haven't given up hope. Quite the opposite. I expect Maddon to help him a lot.

But Russell will be a leader. Castro never will.

 

[Parade_Rain]

No, that couldn't be more inaccurate. It is not "people who want to be driven nuts". It is people who know that fundamentals and heads up play win games. Not taking the extra base, allowing the other guy the rxtra base...those things lose games.

You don't have to agree Russell is a better defender or more headsup ballplayer. You don't have to agree with me and every single baseball fan or expert who has seen Castro play.

I have no doubt Russell will be a more "headsup" ball player. Why is Castro at SS? He's about average defensively no matter how bad you want to claim he loses games. He's at SS because he has proven he can hit well in the MLB. No other MIF currently in the Cubs system has proven that. If you can hit, they will find a spot for you.

 

[beckdawg]

Legit question here. If Castro were just called up last year or the year before and made similar mistakes does he get the benefit of the doubt? Feel like it's easy to forget he basically skipped most of AA and AAA.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Castro has talent. If he had desire and smarts he could be a star. I most certainly haven't given up hope. Quite the opposite. I expect Maddon to help him a lot.

But Russell will be a leader. Castro never will.

Kevin Gallo, the former scout that contributes to Cubs Den, had very similar thoughts on Castro last night or today. He's not a fan for the same reasons you state, mainly that he doesn't work at or show the desire to improve substantially. I think I have different expectations for Castro. I don't expect him to be a leader. His demeanor, his work ethic and frankly his play don't demonstrate that he has that gift in him. With this much talent around him I don't see why he needs to be. Not everyone has to be has to be a star, a good slightly above average ballplayer has value. I managed people for a long time in the corporate world and I came up against this same type of dynamic a lot. I frankly liked having a few extremely talented and intelligent, unambitious, mainly reliable people working for me because they didn't get involved in the politics of climbing the ladder and they didn't require much maintenance. There were things you couldn't ask of them and you had to monitor them closer because they would make mistakes, but you knew that going in. Some of my peers disagreed me vehemently on these people and when I would change jobs internally those kind of people rarely succeeded, and often were fired by my successors. Conversely I took over staff on the verge of being fired that became valuable parts of my team. I've always taken the stance that each according to our own gifts. I've discussed this very topic with a football coach friend of mine, who has also worked in the corporate world, and he's not on my side, he's also not much of a fan of Castro. He said that either in sports or business he would rather have a lesser skilled guy that tried his butt off than a highly talented guy who didn't. So in this my bias shows. I don't love Castro, nor do I hate him. I simply see the role he can play and think that other guys can pick up the slack for the mistakes.

 

[Boobaby1]

Kevin Gallo, the former scout that contributes to Cubs Den, had very similar thoughts on Castro last night or today. He's not a fan for the same reasons you state, mainly that he doesn't work at or show the desire to improve substantially. I think I have different expectations for Castro. I don't expect him to be a leader. His demeanor, his work ethic and frankly his play don't demonstrate that he has that gift in him. With this much talent around him I don't see why he needs to be. Not everyone has to be has to be a star, a good slightly above average ballplayer has value. I managed people for a long time in the corporate world and I came up against this same type of dynamic a lot. I frankly liked having a few extremely talented and intelligent, unambitious, mainly reliable people working for me because they didn't get involved in the politics of climbing the ladder and they didn't require much maintenance. There were things you couldn't ask of them and you had to monitor them closer because they would make mistakes, but you knew that going in. Some of my peers disagreed me vehemently on these people and when I would change jobs internally those kind of people rarely succeeded, and often were fired by my successors. Conversely I took over staff on the verge of being fired that became valuable parts of my team. I've always taken the stance that each according to our own gifts. I've discussed this very topic with a football coach friend of mine, who has also worked in the corporate world, and he's not on my side, he's also not much of a fan of Castro. He said that either in sports or business he would rather have a lesser skilled guy that tried his butt off than a highly talented guy who didn't. So in this my bias shows. I don't love Castro, nor do I hate him. I simply see the role he can play and think that other guys can pick up the slack for the mistakes.

Rizzo leads by example. Frankly, I don't see Castro doing the same.

Sure, not everyone can be a leader, but with this much youth around him, being the silent guy doesn't sit well with me.

I want my guys feeding off of people like Rizzo, Lester, Shark (of old), Bryant, and even Baez. To take a back seat to these guys.........I don't get it.

By the looks of things, you would think Castro was the rookie, and the others were veterans.

We will know what the brass thinks soon enough. Is he the player moving forward, or the player they are moving?

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Rizzo leads by example. Frankly, I don't see Castro doing the same.

Sure, not everyone can be a leader, but with this much youth around him, being the silent guy doesn't sit well with me.

I want my guys feeding off of people like Rizzo, Lester, Shark (of old), Bryant, and even Baez. To take a back seat to these guys.........I don't get it.

By the looks of things, you would think Castro was the rookie, and the others were veterans.

We will know what the brass thinks soon enough. Is he the player moving forward, or the player they are moving?

if I were to guess I don't think he's their kind of guy. I didn't think he was and then showed a ton of support and now, not so much. My bet is that he gets moved.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Agreed. If there is one to trade, it will be Castro, but both of the younger MIF need to show they can hang at the MLB level. I see no reason Russell can't. He's holding his own and Baez is certainly determined to do so. Whether he can ultimately do it or not? I'd be keeping Castro right where he is for now.

 

[CSF77]

CHC
Hendricks
(0-1, 5.15 ERA)
Fowler, CF
Bryant, 3B
Rizzo, 1B
Castro, SS
Montero, C
Soler, RF
Coghlan, LF
Hendricks, P
Russell, 2B

Cubs manager Joe Maddon has no plans to move hot-hitting Addison Russell out of the No. 9 spot in the lineup.

"Here's what you have to understand about him hitting ninth," Maddon said. "He's not going to see any better pitches than he's going to see hitting ninth. Now, I don't want to put him in the one-hole or the two-hole right now. I don't want to lay that on him. So, if you put him seventh, or put him eighth and put the pitcher ninth, he's going to see a less quality of a pitch. Part of the whole game plan in my mind's eye is that hitting him ninth is two-fold -- to be the second leadoff hitter in a sense with a lot less pressure on you. No. 2, the potential to see better pitches because one, two and three are hitting behind you."

 

[CSF77]

On Wada:

The lefty fanned the first four batters he faced, and, according to STATS Inc., is the first Cubs pitcher to fan the first four in his first start of the season since Frank Castillo did so April 10, 1992, against the Cardinals. Wada is the first starting pitcher in the Major Leagues to do so to start the season since the Pirates' Brandon Cumpton struck out the first four he faced June 15, 2013.

"Early on, the fastball had a little giddy-up to it," said Cubs catcher Miguel Montero, who was catching Wada for the first time. "He kept the ball down. When he elevated, he was effective."
But the Cubs also knew Wada's history. The Padres had two on and two outs in the fifth when Maddon opted to pull his starter. Why? Part of the reason was that Derek Norris was due up, and he was batting .433 against left-handed pitchers this season.
Last season, batters hit .204 against Wada the first time through the lineup, .255 the second time, and .360 the third time. When Abraham Amonte flied out to center, that was enough for Maddon. Wada was done after 69 pitches.
"He'd done his job," Maddon said. "I'm more about the Cubs winning as opposed to any particular pitcher winning. You can let him go for one more third of an inning, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. I thought it was a great game for him to build off of."

http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/...wada-had-a-fine-2015-debut-against-the-padres

 

[chibears55]

Think this bryant kid going to be a keeper. ..yep