Starlin Castro Unbridled Manlove with a Side Order of Sploogetasticism Thread

[Saul Goodman]

Should I be worried about him?

Depends on what your initial expectations were.

I think that's the problem. My expectations for Starlin were too high - something like an extended prime where he was a top 3 shortstop every year. At this point a top 10 SS is probably more realistic and probably not worth having a sad over.

You were the one who told us he was the next Garry Templeton, so I don't know why you expected Barry Larkin.

As it is, he's the best all-around SS the Cubs have had since Banks.

I don't think comparing him against decades of shitty players is really the right lens here.

the lens is that he's the best Cubs SS of any of our (except Stew's) lifetime. Why worry about Castro?

HEY BUDDY!

[Yeti]

He gonna suck

[Saul Goodman]

I can't believe Castro and Soriano just ran into each other and dropped the ball.  Wow.  Since Dale seems eager to whip his dick out and show Starlin who's boss I bet he demands the front office demote him after this game.  One of the most unlikely E6's you'll ever see, my frents.

[Slaky]

I can't believe Castro and Soriano just ran into each other and dropped the ball.  Wow.  Since Dale seems eager to whip his dick out and show Starlin who's boss I bet he demands the front office demote him after this game.  One of the most unlikely E6's you'll ever see, my frents.

I watched the part of this game from that stupid collision through the part where it was 7-5 Cubs and they hadn't blown it yet.

For most of that time I was convinced that Soriano and Castro wanted to fight each other. Castro let that error show on his face for the rest of the inning. Soriano looked to be chirping him from the outfield.

[SKO]

So what's my appropriate level of panic over the possibility that Starlin just won't stop sucking?

[Tony]

So what's my appropriate level of panic over the possibility that Starlin just won't stop sucking?

I'm choosing to ignore the problem. I think I can do it thanks to the Hawks and because the Bears will be back in a few weeks.

[SKO]

So what's my appropriate level of panic over the possibility that Starlin just won't stop sucking?

I'm choosing to ignore the problem. I think I can do it thanks to the Hawks and because the Bears will be back in a few weeks.

At which point I'll surely have nothing that I will panic over at all.

[Eli]

So what's my appropriate level of panic over the possibility that Starlin just won't stop sucking?

Depends what panic scale we're using. I think it's 100% mental with him, which could be good or bad.

So, medium panic?

[SKO]

So what's my appropriate level of panic over the possibility that Starlin just won't stop sucking?

Depends what panic scale we're using. I think it's 100% mental with him, which could be good or bad.

So, medium panic?

Well shit. That's like the second to last thing I wanted to hear.

[Eli]

So what's my appropriate level of panic over the possibility that Starlin just won't stop sucking?

Depends what panic scale we're using. I think it's 100% mental with him, which could be good or bad.

So, medium panic?

Well shit. That's like the second to last thing I wanted to hear.

I think it was Fangraphs who had a piece about he's basically laying off good pitches early in the count, falling behind and then swinging at bad pitches when he has two strikes. Probably as a result of the front office/coaches wanting him to be more patient. At this point, it's probably best to accept that he's never going to be a high OBP guy and let him go back to his instincts because there are worse things than just settling for the player Castro was last year. But who knows if that's something he can get back.

Does that help? Or make things worse?

[SKO]

So what's my appropriate level of panic over the possibility that Starlin just won't stop sucking?

Depends what panic scale we're using. I think it's 100% mental with him, which could be good or bad.

So, medium panic?

Well shit. That's like the second to last thing I wanted to hear.

I think it was Fangraphs who had a piece about he's basically laying off good pitches early in the count, falling behind and then swinging at bad pitches when he has two strikes. Probably as a result of the front office/coaches wanting him to be more patient. At this point, it's probably best to accept that he's never going to be a high OBP guy and let him go back to his instincts because there are worse things than just settling for the player Castro was last year. But who knows if that's something he can get back.

Does that help? Or make things worse?

Yes.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

So what's my appropriate level of panic over the possibility that Starlin just won't stop sucking?

Depends what panic scale we're using. I think it's 100% mental with him, which could be good or bad.

So, medium panic?

Well shit. That's like the second to last thing I wanted to hear.

I think it was Fangraphs who had a piece about he's basically laying off good pitches early in the count, falling behind and then swinging at bad pitches when he has two strikes. Probably as a result of the front office/coaches wanting him to be more patient. At this point, it's probably best to accept that he's never going to be a high OBP guy and let him go back to his instincts because there are worse things than just settling for the player Castro was last year. But who knows if that's something he can get back.

Does that help? Or make things worse?

Yeah, what Eli said.  Nobody who does what Castro has done until this year (500 hits by 22 or some crazy figure) has missed the Hall of Fame, let alone just had a great career.  Nobody who does that is just going to disappear.  There is a long list of athletes in all sports who regress after early, brilliant, success (Check out Ruth's numbers in '23-'25 after he threw and batted to 6 pennants, but before 1927).  Or you can just look across town at Patrick Kane, who statistically struggled last year while he worked on other parts of his game and still was maturing off the ice.  

[CT III]

Whatever the outcome, "medium panic" is a keeper.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

So what's my appropriate level of panic over the possibility that Starlin just won't stop sucking?

Depends what panic scale we're using. I think it's 100% mental with him, which could be good or bad.

So, medium panic?

Well shit. That's like the second to last thing I wanted to hear.

I think it was Fangraphs who had a piece about he's basically laying off good pitches early in the count, falling behind and then swinging at bad pitches when he has two strikes. Probably as a result of the front office/coaches wanting him to be more patient. At this point, it's probably best to accept that he's never going to be a high OBP guy and let him go back to his instincts because there are worse things than just settling for the player Castro was last year. But who knows if that's something he can get back.

Does that help? Or make things worse?

Yeah, what Eli said.  Nobody who does what Castro has done until this year (500 hits by 22 or some crazy figure) has missed the Hall of Fame, let alone just had a great career.  Nobody who does that is just going to disappear.  There is a long list of athletes in all sports who regress after early, brilliant, success (Check out Ruth's numbers in b'23-'1925 after he threw and batted to 6 pennants, but before 1927).  Or you can just look across town at Patrick Kane, who statistically struggled last year while he worked on other parts of his game and still was maturing off the ice.  

Misremember'd.

And jesus Babe Ruth was ridiculous.

[Saul Goodman]

Here's Dale's explanation.  Sori's fault?

"The [play in the fourth], 'Sori' lost in the twilight and called it real late, and it obviously cost us two runs," Sveum said. "It's unfortunate it ended up being two runs because of that."