ESPN and Starlin Castro

I would rather see Castro spend the whole year in the minors. All that said, there’s been a lot of spec and rumors that he’ll be up by summer, provided he gets off to a good start. It’s part of the reason why I keep saying to not anticipate anything big in the middle infield.

As for Castro, he’s good. A lot of projection to go, but there’s a lot to like. He still can add more weight to around his 180ish frame right now. He does side arm the ball a bit defensively, but he has good range, plus arm strength, and most of his errors were, by most accounts, an issue of consistency, something that can be fixed. He’s thought of as a good student (AzPhil over at TCR offered a good take in a post awhile back) and good worker who wants to maximize his ability. He has plus speed (Badler over at BA said plus-plus speed, which would put him in Hak-ju Lee and Tony Campana territory. That said, if he fills out a bit, some of that speed will be sacrificed).

The projection issues largely come at the plate. He’s very balanced at the plate. I remember when I saw him, even though he was reaching on some pitches, he was never out of control at the plate. There’s work to do with discipline, but this isn’t an issue of Vitterian proportions. He should add some power. The swing’s nice and compact, but he can maintain a good plane with the bat. His wrists are what will allow him to add power, if he adds power. He’s able to explode into a pitch. Good contact ability should be expected.

Now … that’s a high end. A lot could go wrong, but there’s a lot to be excited about.

People need to stop predicting a timetable for Starlin Castro and annointing him things like the next Derek Jeter. For crying out loud he is 19 years old and barely played outside of A ball.

Patience grasshopper. Let’s see what Castro looks like throughtout the 2010 season before getting carried away with major league ETA and potential.

Andrew Cashner is the closest thing the Cub system has to prospect on the cusp of hopefully breaking the big leagues and creating excitement.

I’d say ESPN is a little premature in their hype. Hopefully his progression continues on its current path, but even if it does I’d guess there’s a lot more for him to learn before we see him in Wrigley.