Saturday’s column from CBS Chicago …
(CBS) He may be a natural-born hitter, but when it comes to playing the field, Starlin Castro is not a natural-born shortstop.
He just plays one on TV.
During his rookie season in 2010, Castro committed 27 errors in just 123 games. During his sophomore campaign, he committed 29 in 158. Last season, he committed 27 in 162. And this year, he already had committed four through 21 games heading into Friday night’s in Miami.
I don’t think that’s the kind of “Committed” that the Cubs meant with their slogan this year. But, hey, it fits.
And the problem with Castro is that he doesn’t. Not up the middle at least. And not when the team is likely to soon have another very appealing option to fill his sizable shoes.
Considering that, at some point the Cubs need to seriously consider moving Castro to a position – third base, perhaps – that’s more befitting a career .959 fielding percentage. And they perhaps should consider experimenting with such a switch sooner rather than later.
This spring, Cubs phenom Javy Baez – selected as the No. 9 overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft – was invited by the Cubs to the big-league camp in Arizona. The invitation positioned Baez as the latest challenger for Castro’s job at shortstop, which Castro knew but was very magnanimous about.
To continue reading, visit CBSChicago.com …