MESA, Ariz.Starlin Castro says hes ready to focus on baseball.
Castro didnt hide behind an interpreter when he reported to camp and addressed the sexual assault allegations that surfaced during the offseason (though he also didnt offer much substance either).
Cubs executives are glad their 21-year-old All-Star shortstop is here, and have directed everything toward Castros representatives, whove vehemently denied the claims.
So underneath the Arizona sunshine, the Cubs will push Castro to get better, and realize his almost unlimited potential.
Manager Dale Sveum has watched Castro closely during the teams first three workouts at Fitch Park. An old shortstop, Sveum has stressed gaining ground when the ball is hit, so your feet create momentum and you have a shorter throw.
Sveum has also noticed that Castro picks up the target late and tends to move his shoulders out of line, forcing too many throws that are too high or in the dirt.
I can relate to Castro, Sveum said Sunday. When I was young, I made a lot of errors. Some of the things Im telling him are some of the same things I (heard). They happen to a lot of people. My best friend Robin Yount made 80 errors his first two years in the big leagues. He turned out to be a pretty good defensive player. The will has to be there to do it. Thats the key.
MLB
Yount actually had 75 errors combined in his age-19 and age-20 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, but whos counting? He has a Hall of Fame plaque in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Castro has similar ambitions, but for now the Cubs are focused on overall team defense. Last season Castro committed 29 of the teams 134 errors, which led the majors by a wide margin. But they were defensively poor by almost any metric or eye test.
Its not just errors that come into play either, Sveum said. Its the awareness of whats going on, whos on the mound, where to play, the score of the game, the depth when theres two outs. These are all the things were talking about and getting ironed out to where we can nullify a lot of hits (opponents) got last year. Defense is everything.
Already, Castro is an offensive force. He led the National League with 207 hits last year. Since 1900, only four players have had more hits in a season at age 21 or younger. Two were Alex Rodriguez and Ty Cobb.
Theo Epsteins front office wants players that grind out at-bats. The Boston Red Sox would play games that lasted four hoursand play deep into October. Last season Castro hit .307 with a .341 on-base percentage (the major-league average was .320) and walked only 35 times in more than 700 plate appearances.
The important thing to remember with Starlin is age, Epstein said. If he were 27 years old and had that kind of on-base percentage with the type of incredible offensive ability that he has, I would say thats a problem. If he hadnt learned to fully develop as a hitter: He wasnt a smart hitter. He wasnt disciplined. He wasnt taking advantage of the natural gifts that he has
(But) doing what he did at 21 years old in the big leagues projects extraordinarily well in the future, because its hard to teach (his) natural ability. Its almost impossible.
(Someone) tries to throw a good breaking ball, he sees it right out of the hand and hes on it. The ability (to) barrel up pitches in every part of the strike zone and drive them to the outfield: You cant teach that.
What hitters do learn as they mature is to be smarter, to figure out how pitchers are trying to get them out (and) recognize that they dont need to do the pitchers any favors and expand the strike zone.They end up not only with walks, but pitches they can drive out of the ballpark.
The education of Castro will continue, and the Cubs may still have their face of the franchise.