This is exciting. Very exciting.
I'm the first to admit that I'm a Ryan Theriot fan. He's a great value at shortstop -- he has decent fielding (according to UZR), has a decent bat, has decent speed, and has a decent contract. He's sort of slightly above-average all-around, which is great in baseball. However, at second base, his defense likely goes from okay to great. Additionally, if he can move to second while the SS position adds output as well, that would be awesome.
However, I don't think Castro will have as great a 2010 season as he did last night. Last night was magic; the days to come may not be. On Twitter, many of us were already preparing mentally for future Castro whiplash. Per Tony Almquist:
Yeah, it's a funny comment, but it's also going to be not funny when, in a week or month or so, the media and fans start to ask, "Where has Castro's power gone? He must be a bust because he had two errors last week, right?"
No. Castro is a work in progress. He's not the final product, but he's good. I think we can enjoy watching him play -- even though it will inevitably come with some rough spots. Above all, though, we should not overestimate his importance. We can't say -- assuming the Cubs start playing to their real potential -- that the Castro has to save the season. As I noted last night:
Last night, the Cubs scored more runs than they had since 1943, or something, but only
In other parts of the web, Cubs fans welcomed Starlin Castro in their own unique ways:
Berselius gave us the pros and cons of the Castro call-up.Welcome to the bigs, Castro. We hope you have fun.
Harry Pavlidis took a rare break from pitching analysis to break down Castro's batting tendencies.
And Joe Aiello of View from the Bleachers took a moment to bask in the new era.
Side note: Carlos Silva is still garbage. I'll address him later.
I think you are right on track with cautioning people not to expect too much of Castro too soon. Hopefully fans will just appreciate the ups and realize there will be downs. I also wanted to add that he actually had 6 RBI, MLB debut record. The bases were loaded when he hit the triple.
ReplyDelete...appreciate the ups and realize there will be downs.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Melissa.
And thanks for pointing out my error! I'll fix that.
Great Post! I've been yearning for Castro for a while. I'm pretty excited! No-he won't be the savior but he'll definitely be exciting to watch.
ReplyDeleteEventually the league will catch up with him and he'll have to make adjustments.
But all in all, I think what we've seen from Castro (though small sample size) and Colvin is youthful exuberance and enthusiasm to play this kids game.
And enthusiasm is contagious.