Report: Cubs call up prospect Starlin Castro
Starlin Castro - SS - Chicago CubsMore team news
Today - 10:10 AM ET
Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes reports that the Cubs have called up prospect shortstop Starlin Castro.
According to Rojas, Castro is en route to meet the club for this weekend's series against the Reds. If true, it represents a surprising change of pace for the club, as Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Castro was not in line for an early-season promotion as recently as last week. Castro, 20, is batting .376/.421/.569 with one home run, 20 RBI and 20 runs scored over 109 at-bats with Double-A Tennessee. He was ranked as the organization's No. 1 prospect by Baseball America over the winter. His promotion would push Ryan Theriot to second base.
Source: Enrique Rojas on Twitter


http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/37017632/ ... ayer_news/

Here comes the savior!

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Here comes the end of Theriot at short!! Woo Hoo

I bet Lou will bat him 7th or 8th for a few weeks until he gets his feet wet.

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Team Cutler.

Welcome to the bigs...
and your new 220 BA, 260 OBP, 300 SLG... Bleh.
What happens Cubs fans when they bring up the BIG PROSPECT too soon???

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

With this news I am setting the over/under on how many times we hear Jim in Evergreen Park and Elmhurst Steve on the radio today at 6.5

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Huzzah! The savior has arrived!

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Kerry Wood went from AA to majors. I believe Mark Prior did as well. Many of the big prospects skip right by AAA.

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I guess this is the immediate reaction to being swept by the Pirates

He's ready.

Yahoo Fantasy Baseball is not.

Thats poor form. Strasburg is on there but Castro's not?

They were both projected to be called up this year

Not comparing the two BTW

Yeah Strasburg couldn't hold Castro's jock

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It's a little too soon, but as long as they are smart about it, this could work out. Bat him down in the order for a bit, maybe 7th if Lou insists on keeping Soto 8th. He'll see some decent pitches there. Don't start him everyday and be ready for the kid to struggle.

Who out there is claiming he is our savior? I think people are reasonably excited about a legit prospect as seen in the eyes of scouts all over the majors. It's the fringe idiots that every fan base has who is licking Castro's taint already.

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Team Cutler.

Seriously this is the only reason I'll watch some Cubs this weekend. There's hockey afoot.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

My schedule is entirely filled with these 2 tasks

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just like Beckham

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

My hope is, this team of fucking losers doesn't ruin him. This smacks of desperation. These guys will still fucking blow.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

anything that moves Theriot to 2B is good with me. Use Fontenot and Baker at 3B for a couple days until Aramis gets his stuff together, then count yourself lucky Fontenot gave you anything of any value this year and get rid of him.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

if i was going to sit aramis down to get his shit together, i certainly wouldn't have shipped out chad tracy. id rather have him in at 3rd than fontenot. i like that they are giving castro a chance. castro and theriot up the middle sounds pretty good defensively, it castro really is as good as they say.

Thats precious

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Is a .296 average worth getting bench for?

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If there's a prior history of sucking and a prospect you consider to be the future is ready, YES

What happens if the kid comes up and hits .160? I'm not saying he will, but definitely in the realm of possibility with youts. I think Robin Ventura was like 1 for 49 to start his career and he turned out pretty good within a year or two. Send him back to Iowa to build his confidence, or keep running him out there if his glove is solid?

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

uh...you do know that's all MLB controlled, right? She's a stooge. In fact, she may not be a real person.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Castro Expectation thread, too soon?

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

They had to do something after getting swept and scoring a grand total of 5 runs against the worst pitching staff in baseball.

It gives me a lot more reason to watch the games. This kid has the tools to be a very good SS. Whether or not he's ready and able to face major league pitching, remains to be seen. Casto is just 20, which seems a but young to be in the majors. But years ago, guys like Billy Williams, and Ron Santo commonly were called up to the show that early. This move makes Cub games appointment TV for the next several games. I wish him all the best...

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Go Cubs!!!!

other moves made along with this [from the cubs website]

The shortstop will wear No. 13.

In other Minor League roster moves, the Cubs promoted pitcher Andrew Cashner from Tennessee to Iowa. The right-hander, who was the team's No. 1 Draft pick in 2008, was 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA in six starts. He had 42 strikeouts and had walked 13 over 36 innings.

Josh Vitters, the Cubs' top pick in 2007, was bumped up from Class A Daytona to Tennessee. The third baseman was hitting .291 in 28 games with three homers, eight doubles and 13 RBIs.

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

Vitters is taking a bit longer to develop than would be ideal. Cashner looks like a guy that may be given a chance at a rotation spot later this season, should any of the starters falter or get injured. Thats assuming they keep Zambrano in the pen. If Cashner really looks ready prior to the trade deadline, I wonder if the Cubs might look into trading Lilly at that point, if they are not in contention?? He's in the final year of his deal and would certainly bring a decent prospect in a trade. Plus, the Cubs could still bring him back as a free agent in the winter. Then Cashner would have the rest of the season to show what he has to offer in the rotation spot made available...just a thought.

Lastly-I hate that Castro is gonna wear #13. Too superstitious I guess.

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Go Cubs!!!!

When it's Mike "30 games" Fontenot... yes.
You're not getting a season of productivity out of this guy. He'll hit well if he plays once a week. Maybe less. He's not a particularly good 2nd baseman. He's not fast enough for his size. He looks like he's got mad cow disease with that patchy shit on his face.
BTW, last 7 days he's batting .250. That .338 SLG doesn't do it either. He does pretty much suck if he plays more than 30 games a season. I'd like to see him traded or shot.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Right now I will certainly take Fontenot at 3rd over Ramirez until he gets his stuff together. A. Ram is killing the team now. The K's are off the charts and the runners left on base are crippling scoring chances. I'm not so sure this is a move of desperation, but rather a let's see what Castro can do here, move Theriot to a position he's more suited for, give A. Ram some time off, and try to get this offense working.

Josh Vitters will be 21 in late August of this year.

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