Starlin Castro (Photo Credit: Getty Images, By: Dilip Vishwanat)
CHICAGO (WSCR) One of, if not the the only reason to watch the Cubs this season has been shortstop Starlin Castro. But as exciting as he’s been to watch, there are some who feel he makes too many mistakes to remain a shortstop.
Those critics would like to see him moved to second base.
“There’s absolutely no reason to try to reshape, you know, a young budding star into something else right now when he’s still trying to define himself,” former Cub and current analyst Todd Hollandsworth said on the Danny Mac Show. “That’s where he’s at, he should be given that opportunity. It’s just so dangerous, the young man just turned 21-years-old. …It’s really indescribable what his upside is.”
On the season, Castro is hitting .320 with two home runs, 35 RBI and a .348 on-base percentage. His batting average is the 10th best in all of baseball and he has the fifth best (.790) OPS among all Major League shortstops.
LISTEN: Todd Hollandsworth On The Danny Mac Show
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“I mean, he ultimately could turn into a 25 homer, 30 homer guy,” Hollandsworth said. “Who knows? Who knows how big and strong he can get, how much taller he might grow, how much more confident he might get at the plate. But right now, he’s incredibly athletic, an incredibly talented young shortstop who, at times, makes some boneheaded plays and doesn’t do the right thing sometimes.”
Castro’s .954 fielding percentage is the 23rd worst among all shortstops, and he’s also committed the most errors among all shortstops. But at the same time, Castro is also capable of making high-lite reel defensive plays.
“Honestly, I sit here and wonder where they would be without him,” Hollandsworth said. “I mean, it’s just really a scary place to go, becuase we’re talking about a team that’s, I think, 13 games under .500 right now. I mean, if you’re talking about Starlin, where are you without him? He has been everything. You go back to the first game of this [White Sox] series, and you saw it all. Not only at the plate, I mean, he single handily got his team back into the ballgame, but he’s made some fantastic plays at shortstop. Sure he makes some mistakes and does some things that, you know, maybe make us a little, you know, question where he may ultimately play out. But to bring that question up any sooner than four years from now would almost be silly.”
