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<!--quoteo(post=66955:date=Oct 21 2009, 08:45 PM:name=KBwsb)-->QUOTE (KBwsb @ Oct 21 2009, 08:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->From Keith Law, who's opinion I tend to trust:
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <!--quotec--><b>Starlin Castro headed for stardom</b>
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Some final observations from my trip to the Arizona Fall League:
Chicago Cubs:
Starlin Castro is a future star. He won't turn 20 until March but was one of the best and most impressive hitters I saw in Arizona. He has excellent hand-eye coordination and can keep his hands inside the ball even when pitchers try to work him inside. His swing can get long on balls away, and he wraps his bat, but he makes a ton of contact and squares up on a lot of pitches out of the zone. He showed he can stay with sliders from right-handers -- this is good, because I saw way too many guys last week who could hit fastballs but not same-side breaking balls -- and showed signs of future power even to the opposite field. At shortstop, he has good lateral range, especially to his right, and a 65-70 arm on the 20-80 scale. There's still a significant amount of projection here; he slugged .392 (.093 isolated power percentage) this year between high Class A and Double-A. He is, though, one of the best shortstops in the minors. (I heard a few comparisons of Castro to Alfonso Soriano, and although there's some physical resemblance, Soriano has a longer swing and always has been a bit of a hacker, while Castro has better bat control and ability to adjust to changing speeds.)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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Yeah, I think Law generally knows what he's talking about. What's Castro's ETA? 2011?
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<!--quoteo(post=66962:date=Oct 21 2009, 09:20 PM:name=chemikel)-->QUOTE (chemikel @ Oct 21 2009, 09:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=66955:date=Oct 21 2009, 08:45 PM:name=KBwsb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KBwsb @ Oct 21 2009, 08:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->From Keith Law, who's opinion I tend to trust:
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <!--quotec--><b>Starlin Castro headed for stardom</b>
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Some final observations from my trip to the Arizona Fall League:
Chicago Cubs:
Starlin Castro is a future star. He won't turn 20 until March but was one of the best and most impressive hitters I saw in Arizona. He has excellent hand-eye coordination and can keep his hands inside the ball even when pitchers try to work him inside. His swing can get long on balls away, and he wraps his bat, but he makes a ton of contact and squares up on a lot of pitches out of the zone. He showed he can stay with sliders from right-handers -- this is good, because I saw way too many guys last week who could hit fastballs but not same-side breaking balls -- and showed signs of future power even to the opposite field. At shortstop, he has good lateral range, especially to his right, and a 65-70 arm on the 20-80 scale. There's still a significant amount of projection here; he slugged .392 (.093 isolated power percentage) this year between high Class A and Double-A. He is, though, one of the best shortstops in the minors. (I heard a few comparisons of Castro to Alfonso Soriano, and although there's some physical resemblance, Soriano has a longer swing and always has been a bit of a hacker, while Castro has better bat control and ability to adjust to changing speeds.)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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Yeah, I think Law generally knows what he's talking about. What's Castro's ETA? 2011?
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If he progresses as quickly as he did last season I could see him being called up in September.
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<!--quoteo(post=66974:date=Oct 22 2009, 11:28 PM:name=Coldneck)-->QUOTE (Coldneck @ Oct 22 2009, 11:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=66962:date=Oct 21 2009, 09:20 PM:name=chemikel)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (chemikel @ Oct 21 2009, 09:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=66955:date=Oct 21 2009, 08:45 PM:name=KBwsb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KBwsb @ Oct 21 2009, 08:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->From Keith Law, who's opinion I tend to trust:
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <!--quotec--><b>Starlin Castro headed for stardom</b>
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Some final observations from my trip to the Arizona Fall League:
Chicago Cubs:
Starlin Castro is a future star. He won't turn 20 until March but was one of the best and most impressive hitters I saw in Arizona. He has excellent hand-eye coordination and can keep his hands inside the ball even when pitchers try to work him inside. His swing can get long on balls away, and he wraps his bat, but he makes a ton of contact and squares up on a lot of pitches out of the zone. He showed he can stay with sliders from right-handers -- this is good, because I saw way too many guys last week who could hit fastballs but not same-side breaking balls -- and showed signs of future power even to the opposite field. At shortstop, he has good lateral range, especially to his right, and a 65-70 arm on the 20-80 scale. There's still a significant amount of projection here; he slugged .392 (.093 isolated power percentage) this year between high Class A and Double-A. He is, though, one of the best shortstops in the minors. (I heard a few comparisons of Castro to Alfonso Soriano, and although there's some physical resemblance, Soriano has a longer swing and always has been a bit of a hacker, while Castro has better bat control and ability to adjust to changing speeds.)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, I think Law generally knows what he's talking about. What's Castro's ETA? 2011?
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If he progresses as quickly as he did last season I could see him being called up in September.
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Recent articles are mentioning a call up next year.
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If he keeps progressing and our bullpen behaves (I couldn't say "performs" with a straight face) similarly to last season, how do Lou/Jim/Larry keep their hands off the kid?
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<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->BenBadler Through 24 PAs, nobody in the AFL has been able to strike out #Cubs SS Starlin Castro yet<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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Hope he doesn't start to buy into his own hype, because damn, he's getting a lot.
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<!--quoteo(post=67041:date=Oct 22 2009, 05:32 PM:name=Ace)-->QUOTE (Ace @ Oct 22 2009, 05:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hope he doesn't start to buy into his own hype, because damn, he's getting a lot.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
He sure is. Can't remember who said it, maybe Ken Rosenthal, but he's being compared to Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes now.
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<!--quoteo(post=67053:date=Oct 22 2009, 11:36 PM:name=funkster)-->QUOTE (funkster @ Oct 22 2009, 11:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=67041:date=Oct 22 2009, 05:32 PM:name=Ace)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ace @ Oct 22 2009, 05:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hope he doesn't start to buy into his own hype, because damn, he's getting a lot.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
He sure is. Can't remember who said it, maybe Ken Rosenthal, but he's being compared to Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes now.
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Great. Thanks, Rosendouche, for ruining it for us all. Dick.
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." - George Carlin
"That was some of the saddest stuff I've ever read. Fuck cancer and AIDS, ignorance is the scourge of the land." - tom v
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I'm all for the hype. I want him really pumped up...then going completely off the rails.
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Well, all this hype certainly caught me off guard. Time for me to go negative on our entire farm system again...
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Unfortunately about every 2-3 years 1 Cub minor leaguer is considered the next great thing. I've been a Cub fan for 30 years and know of only a handful of Cubs players who came through our farm system and developed into anything close to All-Star like.
Joe Carter - only played 1 portion of a season with the Cubs
Shawon Dunston
Greg Maddux
Jamie Moyer
Mark Grace
Rafael Palmeiro
Kerry Wood
Mark Prior
Geovany Soto??
That said, I'm not going to think any Cub minor leaguer is any good until they prove it at the major league level.
I got nothin'.
Andy
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<!--quoteo(post=67073:date=Oct 23 2009, 10:47 AM:name=Andy)-->QUOTE (Andy @ Oct 23 2009, 10:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Unfortunately about every 2-3 years 1 Cub minor leaguer is considered the next great thing. I've been a Cub fan for 30 years and know of only a handful of Cubs players who came through our farm system and developed into anything close to All-Star like.
Joe Carter - only played 1 portion of a season with the Cubs
Shawon Dunston
Greg Maddux
Jamie Moyer
Mark Grace
Rafael Palmeiro
Kerry Wood
Mark Prior
Geovany Soto??
That said, I'm not going to think any Cub minor leaguer is any good until they prove it at the major league level.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Z and Marmol came through our system, though their careers are both at a crossroads right now I'll admit.
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<!--quoteo(post=67074:date=Oct 23 2009, 10:50 AM:name=rok)-->QUOTE (rok @ Oct 23 2009, 10:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=67073:date=Oct 23 2009, 10:47 AM:name=Andy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Andy @ Oct 23 2009, 10:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Unfortunately about every 2-3 years 1 Cub minor leaguer is considered the next great thing. I've been a Cub fan for 30 years and know of only a handful of Cubs players who came through our farm system and developed into anything close to All-Star like.
Joe Carter - only played 1 portion of a season with the Cubs
Shawon Dunston
Greg Maddux
Jamie Moyer
Mark Grace
Rafael Palmeiro
Kerry Wood
Mark Prior
Geovany Soto??
That said, I'm not going to think any Cub minor leaguer is any good until they prove it at the major league level.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Z and Marmol came through our system, though their careers are both at a crossroads right now I'll admit.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Z's a 3-time All-Star and has been 5th in Cy Young voting three times. I think you can safely add him to the list.
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<!--quoteo(post=67075:date=Oct 23 2009, 10:53 AM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Oct 23 2009, 10:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=67074:date=Oct 23 2009, 10:50 AM:name=rok)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rok @ Oct 23 2009, 10:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=67073:date=Oct 23 2009, 10:47 AM:name=Andy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Andy @ Oct 23 2009, 10:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Unfortunately about every 2-3 years 1 Cub minor leaguer is considered the next great thing. I've been a Cub fan for 30 years and know of only a handful of Cubs players who came through our farm system and developed into anything close to All-Star like.
Joe Carter - only played 1 portion of a season with the Cubs
Shawon Dunston
Greg Maddux
Jamie Moyer
Mark Grace
Rafael Palmeiro
Kerry Wood
Mark Prior
Geovany Soto??
That said, I'm not going to think any Cub minor leaguer is any good until they prove it at the major league level.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Z and Marmol came through our system, though their careers are both at a crossroads right now I'll admit.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Z's a 3-time All-Star and has been 5th in Cy Young voting three times. I think you can safely add him to the list.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, I missed him. He wasn't drafted and I just looked through the draft lists. Marmol I'll wait a bit. Even with those 2, the non-pitchers are really sparse.
I got nothin'.
Andy
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