IST: Cubs vs. Cards

[SilenceS]

LOL. That's encouraging.

Oh there are more, he was just talking about it two nights ago.

 

[SilenceS]

I'm definitely not as up tight about Castro as some. I would wager their frustration is more about him being a vet at this point. I mean he is 25 and all but seems like he's been around forever. I think it is that juxtaposition that causes tension in people. There's the "he's a vet, he should know better" thought. I tend to think of it as how stupid was I as a 25 year old?

To be blunt, I can live with the Manny like weirdness of Castro so long as he hits like 2014 Castro. I don't love his defense at SS. If they swap him and Russell I'd probably be ok with it and that might take some of the pressure off him. Honestly it's hard to say really because it's not that Castro is a bad defender it's that he does really inconsistent things. Hopefully the all-star break will let Castro regroup so he can get hot going forward because in large part he's suppose to be the steady guy getting his in the line up around these rookies. If we had 2014 Castro I think a lot of this "where's the offense" talk would die down.

I agree. This is where I think Maddon and Theo give him a break. He was brought up to early and had bad fundamentals. He has had 5 head coaches in the 6 years he has been a Cub. He has 4 or 5 hitting coaches. He has been told so many different things from so many different people and how they do it. He excelled under Renteria and now struggling under Joe. Could it be the wackiness of baseball? Sure. Could it be a philosophy thing messing him up? Sure. We don't really know. Madden has said numerous times how young Castro is and how so many people forget this. He will be the youngest Cub in history to a 1000 hits and you would think he is some second rate douche bag that should be playing in AAA. Its crazy.

This thread perfectly illustrates the ridiculous perception of him by fans. I have never seen a guy take so much heat for your bullpen losing you the game.

 

[FrankieLyrical]

I agree. This is where I think Maddon and Theo give him a break. He was brought up to early and had bad fundamentals. He has had 5 head coaches in the 6 years he has been a Cub. He has 4 or 5 hitting coaches. He has been told so many different things from so many different people and how they do it. He excelled under Renteria and now struggling under Joe. Could it be the wackiness of baseball? Sure. Could it be a philosophy thing messing him up? Sure. We don't really know. Madden has said numerous times how young Castro is and how so many people forget this. He will be the youngest Cub in history to a 1000 hits and you would think he is some second rate douche bag that should be playing in AAA. Its crazy.

This thread perfectly illustrates the ridiculous perception of him by fans. I have never seen a guy take so much heat for your bullpen losing you the game.

I hope you're right man, I really want Castro to succeed in a Cubs uni!

 

[Boobaby1]

I agree. This is where I think Maddon and Theo give him a break. He was brought up to early and had bad fundamentals. He has had 5 head coaches in the 6 years he has been a Cub. He has 4 or 5 hitting coaches. He has been told so many different things from so many different people and how they do it. He excelled under Renteria and now struggling under Joe. Could it be the wackiness of baseball? Sure. Could it be a philosophy thing messing him up? Sure. We don't really know. Madden has said numerous times how young Castro is and how so many people forget this. He will be the youngest Cub in history to a 1000 hits and you would think he is some second rate douche bag that should be playing in AAA. Its crazy.

This thread perfectly illustrates the ridiculous perception of him by fans. I have never seen a guy take so much heat for your bullpen losing you the game.

And you don't think he brings that upon himself?

Obviously you think he should stay as a Cub then.

BTW, I already told you it is not just fans. Many people who have played the game before him think that about him too.

I would have to ask why is that?

 

[SilenceS]

And you don't think he brings that upon himself?

Obviously you think he should stay as a Cub then.

BTW, I already told you it is not just fans. Many people who have played the game before him think that about him too.

I would have to ask why is that?

Because they are part of the media just like Rick Sutcliffe says every Cubs in the minors is going to hit .300. Do you think they follow the team closely enough to really know anything? I watch an announcer blame him for a ball taking a 20 foot hop because he didn't go out there and smooth the dirt between innings. that was Eric Karros. It was one of the dumbest things I ever heard. Don't you think there is a reasoning for him to say dumb shit like that? Its because he is part of the media. I mean he went for 5 minutes how it was Castro fault for not smoothing out a divet. The best part. The ball didn't even hit in the spot he was talking about. This is the perception.

 

[beckdawg]

I sorta see Castro as the baseball version of Jay Cutler. Both were viewed as sort of demi-god saviors in rough times and when they didn't live up to perceived expectations opinion snow balled. In both cases, they were the best player at their positions the teams had in quite some time.

 

[SilenceS]

Just watched the replay. Montego def. set up low and away. Strop just completely missed his spot.

 

[Boobaby1]

I sorta see Castro as the baseball version of Jay Cutler. Both were viewed as sort of demi-god saviors in rough times and when they didn't live up to perceived expectations opinion snow balled. In both cases, they were the best player at their positions the teams had in quite some time.

Good comparison.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Well, with all of his blunders to date, and trust me it has been a bunch of them, we will see what the FO thinks of Castro.

He obviously threw the "Cubs Way" manual away. Would that be considered another error?

Anyways. there is a reason he gets the bad hype from analysts. They are not Cubs fans, so there is no bias one way or another.

I cannot think of one commentator that thinks the Cubs will employ Castro next year. Not one.

Pretty sad really.

Whether he is employed by the Cubs next year or not depends upon if they have a suitable replacement. That isn't the issue here. The issue is one person doing a KBIB imitation in every frigging game thread.

 

[Parade_Rain]

I sorta see Castro as the baseball version of Jay Cutler. Both were viewed as sort of demi-god saviors in rough times and when they didn't live up to perceived expectations opinion snow balled. In both cases, they were the best player at their positions the teams had in quite some time.

Sort of. The trade for Cutler was total garbage and the wrong one. They needed OL. He came with a high price and his contract is extraordinarily ridiculous. That is opposed to a young man still developing his game who was drafted by the team and has a very team-friendly longterm contract. The similarity in the love/hate contract would be Soriano. Where the similarity lies with Castro is he has had how any coaching staffs since he came up? Cutler has had how many OC's? They are just excuses. The only one I excuse Castro from is Sveum just as the only one I excuse Cutler from is Martz.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Baseball is the ultimate team sport. I highly doubt the Cubs players are in the locker room blaming Castro because he didn't run out a foul ball.

1 ball width to the right and Castro has 2 more RBI. No one in that dugout or FO cares that Castro was caught watching the ball. Whether he was hung up at 1B or made it to 2B, it would have been 2 runs. That's all that matters at that moment. 1 ball with away from having a great at-bat, as opposed to the garbage responses about having a bad AB.

 

[brett05]

Can someone link me to video of the Castro play where he just stands there?

 

[Diehardfan]

Can someone link me to video of the Castro play where he just stands there?

He didn't just stand there like everyone is saying....he was kind of Carlton Fisking it, then stopped. No question he should have been running but it was a foul ball....no play...so what's the big fucking deal? If it would've hit fair and he only made first base...different story but again...it was a fucking FOUL BALL. What everyone is missing and what we all should be pissed about is the fact in a one run game with two outs and nobody on...the Cub "closer of the day", walked a guy. Completely and totally inexcusable...its MLB and any MLB pitcher should be able to throw a strike at any time. Hell, I was a hack when I pitched but I could still get the ball over anytime I wanted. Walking someone there is beyond pathetic.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Can someone link me to video of the Castro play where he just stands there?

"a lot of guys do that..." of course that doesn't make it right, but it obviously isn't just a Castro thing as some of the "non-emotional" posters would have you believe.

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/638175...oul-ball-confirmed-in-8th/?query=chicago+Cubs

 

[Parade_Rain]

He didn't just stand there like everyone is saying....he was kind of Carlton Fisking it, then stopped. No question he should have been running but it was a foul ball....no play...so what's the big fucking deal? If it would've hit fair and he only made first base...different story but again...it was a fucking FOUL BALL. What everyone is missing and what we all should be pissed about is the fact in a one run game with two outs and nobody on...the Cub "closer of the day", walked a guy. Completely and totally inexcusable...its MLB and any MLB pitcher should be able to throw a strike at any time. Hell, I was a hack when I pitched but I could still get the ball over anytime I wanted. Walking someone there is beyond pathetic.

If it would have been fair, I would have been more concerned with R1 getting a good read that F7 was not going to get to the ball and catch it. R1 was the runner who needed to be on his horse for the additional run. Castro was 1 ball width away from doing his job whether he ended up at 1B or 2B. 1 ball width away from saving Strop from giving up the game winning HR, etc.

 

[Parade_Rain]

I agree. This is where I think Maddon and Theo give him a break. He was brought up to early and had bad fundamentals. He has had 5 head coaches in the 6 years he has been a Cub. He has 4 or 5 hitting coaches. He has been told so many different things from so many different people and how they do it. He excelled under Renteria and now struggling under Joe. Could it be the wackiness of baseball? Sure. Could it be a philosophy thing messing him up? Sure. We don't really know. Madden has said numerous times how young Castro is and how so many people forget this. He will be the youngest Cub in history to a 1000 hits and you would think he is some second rate douche bag that should be playing in AAA. Its crazy.

This thread perfectly illustrates the ridiculous perception of him by fans. I have never seen a guy take so much heat for your bullpen losing you the game.

You know as I read this, it's not like any other Cub is setting the world on fire. IMHO, speaking of all those hitting instructors, Mallee used to be with the Marlins. I really wonder if he'll last. If not, I'd like to see what Manny could do with the job.

 

[JZsportsfan]

Really should have swept the Cards

Guys need to step up against the best teams if we want to be a real contender

 

[Diehardfan]

If it would have been fair, I would have been more concerned with R1 getting a good read that F7 was not going to get to the ball and catch it. R1 was the runner who needed to be on his horse for the additional run. Castro was 1 ball width away from doing his job whether he ended up at 1B or 2B. 1 ball width away from saving Strop from giving up the game winning HR, etc.

Yes, all that is true but the ball was foul and no play. Cubs still had the game in hand. If Strop would've grooved one to Carpenter, sure it still would have sucked but that kind of shit happens and sometimes the hitter wins the battle but you can't just give them a baserunner because now if you lose a battle, you're also losing the game. It just can't happen and it would be a very long time before I'd put him in that situation again.

 

[Diehardfan]

You know as I read this, it's not like any other Cub is setting the world on fire. IMHO, speaking of all those hitting instructors, Mallee used to be with the Marlins. I really wonder if he'll last. If not, I'd like to see what Manny could do with the job.

You know, I mentioned this earlier...maybe even in this thread. I didn't even know who the hitting coach was. Now usually, that's a good thing as their names only come up for the most part when teams don't hit. I've read where Manny did some good things with the hitters in the minors...you may be on to something.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Really should have swept the Cards

Guys need to step up against the best teams if we want to be a real contender

But isn't that exactly the point though? This is a good baseball team, a young team coming into its own, but it isn't finished yet. This team is not contending for a World Series this year. Much as it pains me the Cardinals are still the better ball club. I thought the Cubs would be swept again and instead split and nearly took 3 of 4. I think they're likely at this point to make the playoffs as a WC. That's a valuable learning exerience but it doesn't make them a contender. I kind of hate the WC myself because it keeps to many teams hanging around thinking they can win. Still it's fun to watch Cubs baseball again without throwing up. Their time will come.