Castro's Defense Will Settle In As He Gains Experience
At 21-years old, Starlin Castro has reached the major leagues far sooner than anyone would have reasonably expected. It was his offensive talent that got him to this point, but his defensive abilities aren't too far behind.
He isn't among the league's best defensive shortstops yet, but he's improving, and he's starting with the fundamentals.
"He has much better rhythm with his feet," Bob Brenly, Cubs TV analyst, said on the Danny Mac Show. "He's getting his body moving instead of just trusting his arm strength to make these miraculous plays. He understands that if he uses his body and if he uses it to get into a throwing position, he's less likely to make a bad throw.
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"Now once again, that being said, Starlin Castro is going to stand on his head from time to time and and try to make the miraculous play, because up until this point in his life he's been able to do that, and do it successfully. So that's going to be be hard to kind of calm that aggressiveness down. But you would much rather have a guy that feels he can make every play, and try to calm him down a little bit, than a guy that only makes the routine plays."
"So it's going to be exciting, he's going to throw a few balls up in the stands, he's going to test Carlos Pena picking balls out of the dirt, over there at first base. But we're going to see a lot of highlight reel plays, and as he matures, we'll see him settle in and make the plays he should and hold on to the balls he should hold on to, when he has no play."
In 132 career games, Castro has a less than stellar fielding percentage of .952 and has committed 28 errors.
