hanley ramirez

rpb is wrong. Phil McCracken is useful.

RPB is right. You suck.

the only point i was making is that dunston was not a .240 hitter, and he improved each year right up until his last with the cubs. his last season or 2 with the cubs he was a solid, not outstanding, shortstop. he doesnt belong in the hall of fame. his jersey number should not be retired. they should not build a statue for him.

I have MANY years of experience in trying to appreciate steaming piles of dogshit.

Laurence Holmes is a fucking weirdo, a nerd in denial, and a wannabe. Not a very good radio host either.

Exactly right. He was a career 270 hitter. No where near great player, but I don't see the problem in calling him a solid ball player.

Many that is true, but an incomplete statement.

nah man , he looks like a legitimate 20 years old..not a fake latin america 20..and he does not appear to be a juicer..just a skinny kid who can hit the shit out of the ball, and has a wild but strong arm... 2nd base maybe in his future.. this is the best cubs prospect i have seen in my lifetime. big fan of this kid

nah man , he looks like a legitimate 20 years old..not a fake latin america 20..and he does not appear to be a juicer..just a skinny kid who can hit the shit out of the ball, and has a wild but strong arm... 2nd base maybe in his future.. this is the best cubs prospect i have seen in my lifetime. big fan of this kid

rpb is wrong. Phil McCracken is useful.

RPB is right. You suck.

Do you hope that Castro matures into a Dunston type guy?

I have MANY years of experience in trying to appreciate steaming piles of dogshit.

Laurence Holmes is a fucking weirdo, a nerd in denial, and a wannabe. Not a very good radio host either.

This is getting irritating. He's a shortstop. Guy's gotta start fielding the ball.

I agree with this. I don't know if it was brought up in this thread, but I actually concur with Stone. When Hak-Ju Lee was here, it was always thought that eventually Castro would move to the other side of the second base bag. It's not even outlandish to think that if Barney hits enough to displace the 3-headed 2B platoon of suck- and is determined to be a part of the teams future, Castro would be moved so he can settle into his eventual long term position at second. Castro could be a Placido Polanco type with a little more pop (not with the glove- Placido is a pretty slick fielder at second or third). He's probably not going to be a Hanley type true franchise hitter- but it really isn't a bad guy to be compared to. Polanco in his career has done everything at the dish except jack 3 run homers.

Castro is quite frankly playing short at this time because there is simply no better option right now at the Major league level or anywhere in the high minors. Eventually there will be one, and at that time he will move. I highly doubt he plays most of his career at short.

I hope he ends up like early Nomar.

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.

So far,Quade looks like another push button manager. Where was Fukudome in the 9th? Pinch hit for Byrd. This season it might be better to put Baker at 1st and Barney at 2nd versus lefties. I like Pena but over the long haul,he will be a strikeout machine versus the lefties. This Cub team will go nowhere because the RH hitting is terrible except for ARam & Castro. Soto,Soriano & "Punch&Judy" Byrd will kill this team over 162 game schedule.

At some point on every superstar's career arc, possibility takes a backseat to greatness. It's during this transformative moment fervor among fanbases ignites, putting opponents, in fantasy and reality, on notice.

Those who cross Starlin Castro's(notes) path better heed the warning.

The Cubs' wunderkind is growing up right before owner eyes. Going 8-for-15 with four runs and two steals against the woeful 'Stros in Houston, the budding bat entered last weekend's series against the Rockies on a mountain high. Carrying momentum over, he ripped three hits in the slate's second game, including a game-clinching three-run bomb off Felipe Paulino(notes), a blood-stirring performance that commanded the attention of fanatics worldwide, and Jim Tracy. The beaten skipper, annoyed after the one-man mauling, called Castro a "complete nemesis," comparing him to an unrefined Vlad Guerrero.

The seeds of Castro's Impaler complex were planted last year. The much-hyped shortstop along with Jason Heyward(notes) and Mike Stanton(notes), comprised arguably the most productive class of 20-year-olds in big league history. At a stage in life when most males are driven to access/consume beer, parties and life-sized Barbies, the fast-developing prospect was motivated to leave an indelible mark on professional baseball's highest level.

He set the tone immediately.

In his first major league at-bat last May, the baby-faced rookie blasted a three-run homer off Cincinnati's Homer Bailey(notes). Two plate appearances later, he roped a triple with the bases loaded. Knocking in six runs overall, he established a new MLB record for RBIs in a debut. Unsurprisingly, the hits didn't stop there.

Though his defensive immaturity was visible, Castro remained a stalwart with the stick over his next 124 games, joining exclusive company. He became only the third age-20 shortstop ever — Hall of Famer Arky Vaughan and Alex Rodriguez(notes) the others — to hit .300 while qualifying for the batting title. Considering he never logged a single Triple-A at-bat, his milestone achievement was quite remarkable.

As impressive as the lovable Cubby was a season ago, many in Fantasyland exercised skepticism in spring drafts. Outside his record-setting batting average, the youngster's mediocre yields in other roto categories were marginal at best (3 HR, 53 R, 41 RBI, 10 SB). Age equals Heyward and Stanton, whose forecasted values were expected to significantly dwarf Castro's, titillated the senses more. In some eyes, he was Elvis Andrus(notes) revisited. Still, his eligibility at a talent-scarce position made the barely legal infielder highly desirable in resource-thin formats. Shallow leaguers had a very different point of view. Selling for an average price of $3.20 in Y! drafts, a mere $53 short of what Hanley Ramirez(notes) went for, few mixed owners shelled out Oprah dollars to acquire his services

Owners who didn't chuck another buck are already regretting it. Currently second only to Troy Tulowitzki(notes) in overall worth, Castro is on pace to turn a gigantic profit.

Everything has clicked. He's attacked pitches aggressively making consistent contact on offerings inside and well-outside the zone (91.7 CT%). Despite the fantastic results, Mike Quade would like to see Castro dial down the zealousness. From the Chicago Tribune:

"We'd still like to see him improve discipline-wise," manager Mike Quade said. "But not at the expense of what he's doing. It's a very fine line. I believe he'll be even better if he learns to lay off some of those pitches, because balls out of the strike zone are not always going to be put in play hard. … And he's such a young player, now maybe he never gets that and winds up being a fabulous hitter that has a long strike zone. We'll see."

Though Quade's concerns are somewhat justified, trying to alter Castro's plate persona probably isn't the wisest recommendation. The kid, after all, is batting an obscene .408. He's simply doing what he's supposed to do as a leadoff hitter — get on base in an attempt to manufacture runs. It's important to remember, Castro, like countless Caribbean imports before him, was schooled at the Dominican Institute for Free-Swinging. Repeatedly fouling off junk offerings is the aggressive hitter's way of being selective.

Fanatics hope Castro's attacking nature will soon pay off in the power department. Eventually, he'll develop into a perennial 20 HR contributor, but until his dirt-pounding 2.85 GB/FB ratio shrinks, a low-double-digit long-ball yield is probably his near-term ceiling. However, Cubs GM Jim Hendry has hinted, the searing-swinger could eventually bat third this year, greatly boosting his RBI chances. Until that switch is made, he will continue to be a top-flight, three-cat option (BA, R, SB) at fantasy's thinnest position. Drafted outside the SS top-10, he could outdistance pillars Derek Jeter(notes) and Jimmy Rollins(notes), penetrating the top-five. Don't entertain thoughts of selling high, especially in keepers. This is the first of what presumably will be a decade-long string of sublime campaigns. Castro could soon be anointed Senor Cub, a designation original franchise "Mr.," Ernie Banks, would surely welcome.

Only 10 percent of the season may be in the books, but it appears Castro has already come of age.

Fearless Forecast (rest of season): 535 at-bats, .310 BA, 9 HR, 65 RBI, 77 R, 19 SB

I have MANY years of experience in trying to appreciate steaming piles of dogshit.