Howard Smith – USA TODAY Sports
Given that Chicago Cub‘s short stop Starlin Castro is in his fourth year in the MLB and in the middle of a seven-year, $60 million dollar deal, it goes without saying that rookie mistakes should be fully removed from his resume. This clearly isn’t the case with Castro, who was anointed as the future face of the Cubs and the next big thing in baseball in his rookie year.
With the bases loaded and only one out, Matt Carpenter hit a pop up into the outfield grass behind short stop. After the infield fly rule took effect, Castro caught the ball, but as he put his head down and continued his trot, St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Jon Jay took off from third and beat the throw home.
Castro is known for making mental blunders, and with him hitting a miniscule .244, it’s hard to imagine that Wrigleyville is too enamored with their young poster child. With Donnie Murphy on the roster and Javier Baez hitting a ton in the minors, it might be in their best interest to ship young Castro back to Iowa and hope he wakes up from his frequent on-field snoozes.
This isn’t the first mid-game nap that Castro has taken either.
Rewind to June 6, 2012. With the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, the Cubs lead the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1. Brandon Crawford hit a ground ball to Darwin Barney, who tossed the ball to Castro to induce the double play. Castro held the ball, assuming there were two outs, and the tying run scored.
Rewind a bit further to August 22, 2011. Again against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubs had just made an out and Castro saw the need to take a stroll around the vicinity. By the time the pitcher started his wind-up, Castro’s back was still turned to the plate and he didn’t correct himself until the ball was returned to the pitcher.
Bobby Valentine, who was announcing the game, was livid with Castro. He dove head first into a seven-minute rant that went into all sorts of criticisms, including how Castro eats his sunflower seeds. It was mildly amusing to say the least.
We don’t need to delve into his sexual assault charges in January 2011, suffice to say his antics are getting a little out of hand both on and off the field.
All in all, something has to be done with Castro. Mental lapses are inexcusable for fourth-year players, especially ones making so much money. If Castro is indeed the face of this franchise, then the Cubs have many more years ahead of being the ‘Lovable Losers.’
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