DELUSIONAL CUBS FAN

Chicago Cubs top prospect and new savior Starlin Castro

Starlin Castro is joining the Chicago Cubs

Wow! In a move that surprised fans, the Chicago Cubs have promoted AA Shortstop Starlin Castro to the major leagues.

What made the promotion shocking was the fact that GM Jim Hendry had denied that Starlin Castro would be promoted to the Cubs just days prior to the move being made.

What has changed since then?  Well, what do you want me to say? The Cubs have played flat out embarrassing baseball. The fans, who have been pretty upset with this team all year were getting restless. It’s hard to want to pay attention to a team that plays so poorly.

The Cubs were in this same boat about two week before, with fan interest dropping off until the Cubs suddenly moved Zambrano to the bullpen. Suddenly, things were getting interesting on the north side and it gave us all another reason to stay tuned.

Meet your new reason to keep paying attention to the Chicago Cubs in 2010: rookie Starlin Castro.

Starlin Castro has been highly touted as a prospect. He’s expected to be an upgrade defensively at shortstop for the Cubs with solid hitting skills and speed to go along with that.  Perhaps he’ll even be a shot in the arm for the team that management has been looking for. Get your Starlin Castro Rookie Card while you can still afford one!

Why Starlin Castro on the Chicago Cubs is a Good Move

Starlin Castro was tearing up double-AA Tennessee with a .376 batting average and didn’t have much left to prove at that level of the minors. He’s considered to be a stellar shortstop defensively and will be replacing Ryan Theriot at that position, who is considered average defensively by most and not very good by some. With the Cubs not scoring runs, defense has become more important and teams across the majors have all been jumping on the defensive bandwagon lately.

Offensively we don’t really know what we’ll be getting out of Starlin Castro until we see him at the major league level. We hope he hits for average and that he will develop a bit more of a power swing. In the lineup he’ll be bumping Theriot over to second which means that Castro will effectively replace the Mike Fontenot/Jeff Baker platoon at second.

That platoon has combined for 2 HR, 13 RBI, 0 SB and .258 batting average. It’s not expecting too much to think that Starlin Castro can equal, if not flat out beat those numbers. If you factor in better defense and the intangible “spark” factor of a new player then it’s a good move.

There’s no doubt from anyone within the Cubs that Castro is the shortstop of the future so all they’re giving him his chance to play and learn at the major league level.  And you can’t say the Cubs aren’t trying; promoting Castro to the majors and sending Zambrano to the bullpen are bold moves for an under performing team. This is the start of changes for the better with the Cubs.

Why This Could Be a Bad Move

It’s easy to think of reasons why this might not work because many of them are the same ones that Starlin Castro wasn’t on the major league team out of spring training despite an impressive showing. He’s only 20 years and 44 days old, making him the youngest member of the Chicago Cubs since Oscar Gamble played his first game on Aug. 27, 1969, at the age of 19 years and 250 days.

There’s no hard rules on when to call a player up so you always take a risk on rushing a young player to the majors too quickly and hurting his ability to prosper. Starlin Castro is young and has never played a single game above the AA level. There’s no way of knowing if he’s truly ready for the majors so there’s the chance that he could hit poorly, get sent back down to the minors and have his confidence smashed.

And why wait until now? Why not at the beginning of the season?  If everyone knew that Theriot was going to get bumped over to second base (a position he seems well suited for but hasn’t actually played regularly at in four years), why not move him there starting in spring training so he can get playing time in defensively at shortstop?  Couldn’t the Cubs have waited until after June 1st to call up Castro, thus keeping him away from being arbitration eligible for another full season?  Is this just a panic button move?

Some good questions, but…

Starlin Castro is going to be a star.

Starting Friday, March 17, 2010 in Cincinnati, Chicago Cubs fans get their first glimpse of the future of the Cubs organization. Castro is only one part of it.  There’s Geovany Soto, Tyler Colvin, Andrew Cashner, Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters. There are expiring contracts of veterans and organizational changes in the works.

This is actually the first big move of the Ricketts reign over the Cubs and the future of the franchise. Be patient, more are on the way. This really is Year One.

But let’s not forget to give….

A Big Die Hard Delusional Chicago Cubs Fan Welcome to Starlin Castro!

Welcome to the big leagues kid. Play well and prosper.

Go Cubs!

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Related Posts:
Chicago Cubs Top Prospect 2010 Starlin Castro Rookie Card
Starlin Castro called up to Cubs, to start tonight – Chicago Sun Times
Cubs call up top young shortstop Castro – MLB.com
Phenom Starlin Castro joining Cubs in Cincinnati – Chicago Breaking Sports
Cubs’ Castro decision brings many questions – Chicago Breaking Sports
Cubs promote top prospect Starlin Castro to majors – Yahoo Sports
Starlin Castro Minor League Stats