There was really no way Starlin could win. He was called up to a simply awful Cubs team, and fans needed something, anything to feel good about. Even if it was this incredibly young, incredibly raw, incredibly rushed through the system talent. Obviously, his debut game only made things worse in the end, kind of […]
Tag: Starlin Castro
Starlin Castro Symbolized the In-Between
Starlin Castro makes his return to Wrigley Field this afternoon, last playing in the Confines in the lamentable fourth game of the 2015 NLCS, when the wind had just about entirely been let out of the surprise 97-win season. I have written elsewhere that to be traded away from a team so on the cusp of such […]
The Path We Walked with Him
I remember where I was when Starlin Castro made his big-league debut. I’m guessing you do, too. In amongst the jumble of hazy memories and half-begun hopes that are all that remain of the dark years between 2008 and 2011, just a few moments stand out. Castro’s debut, on the road against Cincinnati, is one of them. […]
From BP: Cubs Implement Flextime
Over at our main site, Wrigleyville’s Editor-in-Chief Sahadev Sharma wrote up the Cubs’ acquisition of Ben Zobrist, Adam Warren, and Brendan Ryan. The full story is available only to paying subscribers, but we thought you’d enjoy this preview here. Barely an hour before news broke Tuesday night that the Cubs had made multiple moves, Theo Epstein […]
Cubs Player Profile: Starlin Castro
Position: Second base/Shortstop 2015 Stats: .265/.296/.375, .243 TAv, 1.5 WARP Year in Review: After Zack Moser’s profile of Addison Russell on Tuesday, we now turn to the player that Russell ostensibly replaced: Starlin Castro. The full-season stats you see above aren’t exactly misleading, but it truly was a tale of two seasons for the enigmatic Castro in 2015. It might […]
Bottoms Up
It was August of 2013, and the Cubs were nowhere near a playoff spot. It was just another game in a seemingly endless morass of meaningless competition against a team that was far superior in almost every aspect. The Cardinals were in town and they were in the middle of kicking the crap out of […]
That’s So Cub: A Look at the Top September Contributors and Moments
It’s the beginning of October, which not only means that Halloween is around the corner and you might even hear the first ominous tinkle of mall Christmas music, but also that I, as I have since the beginning of time the beginning of the season, will sit down and write about the top Cubs’ contributors and moments from the previous […]
The Echoing Silence of Starlin Castro’s Bat
“Addison is the shortstop today, he could be the shortstop tomorrow” – Joe Maddon And so Castro sits, under the weight of a -0.1 WARP, under the weight of his .236/.271/.304 slash line, under the weight of unimproved defense and mental lapses, under the weight of it all, he sits. The future that Theo Epstein […]
Starlin Castro: (Re)Making Strides
It’s been a rough first half of 2015 for Starlin Castro. After a strong start, Castro faltered in late April. The Cubs played a game on each of the first 17 days of May, during which time Castro played every day—and fell headlong into a slump the way out of which remains undiscovered. For all the […]
A Quartet of Carnage
If you follow the Cubs at all—and I’m assuming you must, if you’re coming to this site—then you’re well aware what their issues have been of late: the offense. During this recent stretch of run-scoring ineptitude, there have been multiple culprits, but it’s a trio of vets and a young rookie who have stood out. […]