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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 24, 2014 22:53:35 GMT -5
So far Castillo has shown himself to be a reliable outfielder with an adequate arm. At the plate he exhibits pretty good discipline and zone judgment. However, to date I have only seen one ball hit with authority. Granted he has been out of baseball for 18 months and most (south of Ted Williams) would need time to acclimate. Maybe he will in the AFL or in winter ball. But so far I am less than impressed with his plate work. His one rbi has come on a bases-loaded walk.
Abreu he is not.
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Post by xanderbogaerts2 on Sept 25, 2014 0:28:20 GMT -5
So far Castillo has shown himself to be a reliable outfielder with an adequate arm. At the plate he exhibits pretty good discipline and zone judgment. However, to date I have only seen one ball hit with authority. Granted he has been out of baseball for 18 months and most (south of Ted Williams) would need time to acclimate. Maybe he will in the AFL or in winter ball. But so far I am less than impressed with his plate work. His one rbi has come on a bases-loaded walk. Abreu he is not. i don't think anyone has compared him to Abreu. |
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 25, 2014 8:55:40 GMT -5
So far Castillo has shown himself to be a reliable outfielder with an adequate arm. At the plate he exhibits pretty good discipline and zone judgment. However, to date I have only seen one ball hit with authority. Granted he has been out of baseball for 18 months and most (south of Ted Williams) would need time to acclimate. Maybe he will in the AFL or in winter ball. But so far I am less than impressed with his plate work. His one rbi has come on a bases-loaded walk. Abreu he is not. i don't think anyone has compared him to Abreu. True enough and I was not either. I merely used Abreu to sharpen the contrast. Even though Castillo has not had much time to re-acclimate to the game, I am a bit underwhelmed with his bat to ball results to date. Yes this is SSS with an exponent, but right now he is a RH Bradley with fewer strikeouts. |
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Sept 25, 2014 11:15:55 GMT -5
So just to make sure, your thesis is that after six games, which followed a handful of minor league games spread across three levels, which followed a period of a year and a half in which he did not play competitive baseball, which followed him having to sneak out of his country and essentially cut off contact with all friends and family still on the island, you aren't impressed with how hard he's hitting the ball? Yes?
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Post by Oregon Norm on Sept 25, 2014 12:52:45 GMT -5
It is way, way too early to make almost any determination about this guy, outside of the very basic elements: foot speed, perceived bat speed, arm strength, very limited observations on pitch recognition, that sort of thing. As Chris outlines, with his pointed questions, we have a 6-game time series to work with, and he's been away from the game for quite a while. As I've written elsewhere, I'm surprised he's even swinging a bat in a ML ballpark at this point.
There's a reason why he's pencilled in to the AFL roster, and it isn't to give him more fan exposure. He needs time on the field, as much of it as he can get. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he shows up on a winter league roster as well.
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atzar
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Post by atzar on Sept 25, 2014 13:12:15 GMT -5
A little more arm strength than I expected, a little less speed than I expected. Everything else is pretty much as advertised.
Not ready to draw any conclusions from his work at the plate.
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nomar
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Post by nomar on Sept 25, 2014 15:34:25 GMT -5
His defense gives him a very solid floor.
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Post by thelavarnwayguy on Sept 25, 2014 17:20:24 GMT -5
Not sure he will hit but it's way too early to tell. I think the Sox probably had his value about right but it's risky. I think it's probably a decision I would have agreed with though given the market for guys with his skill level. He's still pretty young and in his prime potentially, and in great shape. I'm not sure I would want him to play in Arizona even. He probably would be fine just coming through spring training.
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Post by Don Caballero on Sept 25, 2014 17:45:06 GMT -5
I always wondered why the only time SSS don't count is when declaring someone a bust.
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Post by JackieWilsonsaid on Sept 25, 2014 18:19:17 GMT -5
I saw him in the last playoff game in Pawtucket.
I agree with all the high floor talk.
He was clearly the most athletic player on the field and that means something.
The bat will ultimately tell the story.
He clearly had the work ethic to get himself in peak shape and was rewarded for it.
Whether he can make the constant adjustments necessary to perform at an above average center or right fielder level at the plate is still a question but I like his odds.
A betts, Bradley, Castillo "roration"' in center and right would surely keep the pitching staff happy!
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Sept 25, 2014 18:24:57 GMT -5
I always wondered why the only time SSS don't count is when declaring someone a bust. I know you're probably kidding, but we also do a ton of brake-pumping here too, so I disagree with the sentiment. See, e.g., Jose Iglesias 2013. |
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Post by Don Caballero on Sept 25, 2014 18:52:47 GMT -5
I know you're probably kidding, but we also do a ton of brake-pumping here too, so I disagree with the sentiment. See, e.g., Jose Iglesias 2013. True that, that's what I like about this community: the sky is falling mentality is fun to mock but mostly it isn't serious and most posters are really level minded. You might however be forgetting when someone said Iglesias swing looked like A-Rod's. There was no breaks on that train. |
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 25, 2014 19:00:32 GMT -5
So just to make sure, your thesis is that after six games, which followed a handful of minor league games spread across three levels, which followed a period of a year and a half in which he did not play competitive baseball, which followed him having to sneak out of his country and essentially cut off contact with all friends and family still on the island, you aren't impressed with how hard he's hitting the ball? Yes? Well thanks for making this a thread even though I did not intend so. I guess I hit a hot button and should be flattered. I was merely making an observation based upon an admitted few at-bats. Castillo looks good in the field and seems to have a stronger arm than was advertised. Is that also not fair after so many games? So far IMO he does not go home to first in a time advantageous to beating out many infield hits. The time I saw him attempt to steal second, he was out by a large margin...so his useful speed in those situations currently could be called into question. I hope that he acclimates and his MLB offensive capabilities approach reputation. |
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Post by wcsoxfan on Sept 25, 2014 19:23:01 GMT -5
True that, that's what I like about this community: the sky is falling mentality is fun to mock but mostly it isn't serious and most posters are really level minded.
You might however be forgetting when someone said Iglesias swing looked like A-Rod's. There was no breaks on that train.Don't see what's wrong with that; he hit as many HRs as A-Rod this year. |
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Post by cardsox on Sept 25, 2014 20:10:27 GMT -5
My biggest surprise is that he doesn't seem that fast going to 1st. For someone with this unbelievable speed he doesn't show it going down the line.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Sept 25, 2014 20:15:55 GMT -5
I'm consistently about a month behind on my RSS, so I only just got around to this: www.baseballamerica.com/international/like-watch-cuban-baseball/Worth a read, but even before I got to his name, this struck me as relevant: So I'm thinking it may take Castillo a season or two to get used to running on MLB backstops. We'll probably have to make sure we don't freak out when he's not swiping 40 off the bat. |
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Post by thelavarnwayguy on Sept 25, 2014 20:29:47 GMT -5
I doubt if Castillo ever steals more than 25 bases a year. I just don't see him having a high enough success rate to be stealing a lot of bases. I see what it was in Cuba but it looks like his body is changed a lot. I like his pop though. He looks like a good all around player.
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Post by jimed14 on Sept 25, 2014 20:58:44 GMT -5
I always wondered why the only time SSS don't count is when declaring someone a bust. I know you're probably kidding, but we also do a ton of brake-pumping here too, so I disagree with the sentiment. See, e.g., Jose Iglesias 2013. We had a lot more info on Iglesias in 2013 than we do on Castillo now. Although the HR and near miss tonight gets us closer. |
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Post by beany24 on Sept 25, 2014 21:01:15 GMT -5
Two good shots off two solid ML pitchers tonight. Looking better every game.
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Post by sarasoxer on Sept 26, 2014 13:21:07 GMT -5
So just to make sure, your thesis is that after six games, which followed a handful of minor league games spread across three levels, which followed a period of a year and a half in which he did not play competitive baseball, which followed him having to sneak out of his country and essentially cut off contact with all friends and family still on the island, you aren't impressed with how hard he's hitting the ball? Yes? [/b] I believe that I twice draped my statements in SSS tapestry and underscored that noting his protracted time away from the game. I said that he had not hit the ball with much authority with Boston (until last night). Exogenous events aside, did you disagree with that given his .170 average prior to? |
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Post by sibbysisti on Sept 26, 2014 14:57:07 GMT -5
I place as much credence in Castillo's underwhelming offensive performance to start his career, as I do his performance last night. Ask me again next April.
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Post by jimed14 on Sept 26, 2014 15:18:24 GMT -5
He hasn't played in a year and a half and is basically in spring training mode. Not much more needs to be said about him.
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Post by bbscouts on Sept 26, 2014 15:32:45 GMT -5
I'm really optimistic on Castillo. He could be what the Red Sox thought they were getting with Carl Crawford but at half price, younger, more power and hopefully much healthier.
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Post by jdb on Sept 26, 2014 15:33:29 GMT -5
He hasn't played in a year and a half and is basically in spring training mode. Not much more needs to be said about him. His spring training mode is a hell of a lot better than Drews spring training mode. |
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Post by Guidas on Sept 26, 2014 15:37:54 GMT -5
Give him 300 MLB PAs and then we can begun to start to honestly evaluate him.
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