Castro sits out to 'observe'
You can observe a lot just by watching, according to Yogi Berra, and that’s what Cubs manager Mike Quade is going to have Starlin Castro do for a couple of games. Castro is not in today’s starting lineup against the Astros, and he probably won’t start tomorrow night, either. Lineup:
Baker, 3B
DeWitt, 2B
Byrd, CF
Soto, C
Nady, 1B
Colvin, RF
Soriano, LF
Barney, SS
Coleman, P
Castro committed a mental error yesterday, leaving first base and getting tagged out after grounding into a forceout in the seventh. There were only two outs when Castro was tagged out. Quade was quick to say that Castro has had to process a lot this season.
“Every so often, it’s better for a player to observe than participate,” Mike said. “I thought he needs to watch a game or so and he can sit with some very smart people on my staff and keep and eye on things and maybe reflect a little bit. He’s had so much thrown at him. I think sometimes, step back and take a look at things and give a guy a couple days to take a look at what’s going on, lapses of concentration and stuff that maybe he can reflect on and get through.”
Talking briefly with Castro before the game, he said he was fine with Quade’s decision.
The Cubs are facing lefty Wandy Rodriguez today. That means Jeff Baker gets another start. Against lefties, he’s at .352/.394/.557. Against right-handers, Baker is .069/.129/.069. On top of that, Aramis Ramirez will need at least today to rest his strained right quad. The doctor will take a look at Ramirez today, but Cubs people say they don’t believe the injury is serious and that Ramirez might be able to play tomorrow night.
Tyler Colvin’s line is .255/.311/.503. Forty of Colvin’s 84 hits, or 47.6 percent, have gone for extra bases. He has 17 doubles, 4 triples and 19 homers.
MINOR-LEAGUE ROUNDUP
You know Class AAA Iowa’s situation. They must beat Memphis this afternoon to get into the postseason. If the I-Cubs lose, they finish in a tie with Memphis, but Memphis owns the tiebreakers. Jay Jackson pitches for Iowa today, one day after Jeff Samardzija gave up 8 hits and 7 runs in 6 innings in an 8-7, 15-inning loss to Memphis.
Tennessee beat Carolina 3-2, with Chris Archer tuning up with 2 innings of 1-hit shutout ball. The Smokies are playoff bound. Tony Thomas hit his 11th homer and extended his hitting streak to four games.
Daytona (A) won its final game, 6-0 over Lakeland, with Rob Whitenack working 7 innings of 2-hit shutout ball. He improved to 3-1 with a 2.04 ERA at high-A ball. Daytona finished the second half at 41-28. Michael Brenly, Rebel Ridling and DJ LeMahieu were named to the Florida State League all-star team.
Peoria (A) fell 1-0 to Quad Cities. Justin Bour had his 38th mulithit game.
Boise (A) finished with a 9-2 loss to Yakima. After going 19-19 in the first half, the Hawks were 15-23 in the second.
Happy Labor Day and enjoy the game.
we've had much talk about the good job Quade has done and it jogged my memory.
i believe a
1. few years back he was asked why Quade was picked as one of the coaches and he said something to the effect that he was rewarding him for all his years in the minors......so maybe now he's giving him a 2nd reward while his eye is on Girardi or Sandberg.
he also said,
2. Saturday on the radio post game, Jim Memolo said he was shocked at statements Hendry made in a pre-game interview with Kap about his famous 3-4 moves to make the team a contender in 2011. as well as I can remember it went something like this.
"Soriano., Ramirez, and Byrd will be better next year. Castro and Soto will be here. Fukudome has come on and I can see Colvin playing 1B or the OF. just add 2 pitchers and 1 or 2 players we don't have on the team now".
sounds like he's looking for a top 2B and a 1B depending on what happens with Fukudome in the off season.
thanks, art
can't top that.
We all loved Shawon Dunston but he never came close to achieving his potential. The similarly-hyped Castro is already a more complete player than Dunston ever was. Whatever the Cubs are doing with him is obviously correct. But a refresher course every now and then won't hurt.
I get the impression Starlin Castro was given a kick in the pants. Quade didn't like something about Castro's approach the last couple days and decided to proactively address the issue before Soriano (his mentor...shudder) got inside the kid's head with "advice."
Bruce - do you believe there is any magic number in wins sitting out there that Quade could hit with the team these last few weeks to "guarantee" him self the job? Conversely - would he have any chance at all if the team plays under .500 the rest of the way?
I imagine the Cubs would never admit that a magic number exists, but also think it would be incredibly difficult for them not to give him the full-time job if the Cubs go 27-10 (for example) with him as manager. Do you agree with that?
They'll take everything into consideration. If he does go 27-10, though, things will be mighty interesting.
There has been a few posts about wanting to see Quade show some tough love to veterans as well. From a fan and purely visceral perspective, I woudl love to see him bench ARam or Sori the next time they turn doubles into singles. Issue is though - its very hard to change the behaviors of 10+ year veterans in this league. So while watching them get benched would be great theatre and clearly warranted - I don't think it would make any major difference (other than making the fans happy in the short-term). Their behaviors are unlikely to change since they have become programmed to watching their long fly balls and bloopers that hit the chalk.
That's why what Quade did with Castro was impactful. It's not too late to get to him and change some of the bad actions before they become ingrained behaviors.
Your exactly right, Charlieboy. I've heard all this talk about Tony La Russa this and Bobby Cox that. They pick their spots, too. We've heard for 12 years now about Bobby and Andruw Jones. Well, Andruw was 21 years old when Bobby pulled him off the field. Who is the controversy swirling around now in St. Louis? A young player: Colby Rasmus.
It's all fun and makes us feel right to say Lou or Quade should bench Ramirez or Soriano. The real world works differently.
>> It's all fun and makes us feel right to say Lou or Quade should bench Ramirez or Soriano. <<
As a fan, believe me.... it's no fun and it's infinitely maddening watching self-professed primadonnas obviously jaking it where and when they please without recourse.
.... and as the ones who pay for these players through ticket sales, buying TV/radio sponsor products, Cub merchandise, etc we DO have the right to say that Lou or Quade should bench these players when they can't manage to allocate 3 hours of their day between the foul lines to play baseball the way they're fully capable of playing.
In signing a contract you agree to the rules of the team, the terms of employment and the consequences for violating either of them.
The kid is going to be a great player for a long time, but let's face it, he's only a baby. Most 20-year-olds are playing in the Midwest League, but Castro has not only held his own, but excelled, in the big leagues.
That being said, he's going to need a lot of coaching and guidance on and off the field to "be all he can be." The manager, coaches and veteran players can all help in his maturation. I hope they don't let him down by letting him skate by with obvious mistakes.
Bruce,
What is the process by which news of this sort (Castro benched for a "mistake") is disseminated to Cub reporters?
Is it a press release, during a Q&A session or some other way?
Thanks
Very easy process. We walk into the clubhouse, where the lineup is posted. Castro's name is not on it. Soon afterward, we meet with Mike Quade. The first question is about Castro, and follow-up questions ensue.
Thanks.... I kinda thought so.
That brings me to my next questions...
It's been all over every Chicago newspaper today about Quade benching Castro because of his "mental mistake".
What I can't understand is why no Cub reporter then asked Quade if this only applied to Castro and why this learning experience wasn't applied to other players who had previously exhibited similar behavior on the field which would suggest that their level of concentration also wasn't apparent since Quade took the helm?
Wouldn't that example be as beneficial to a rookie as a rookie dealing with the consequences of their own malaise?
Perhaps if Castro had witnessed the same fate happening with some of his teammates previously, his own "mental mistake" would've never happened.
Is there some unwritten rule or implied code of conduct among Cub reporters that precludes any of them from asking probing questions, that although may put players, coaches, managers, GM's or other execs on the spot, may actually serve the team beneficially in the bigger picture?
I asked Quade about veterans vs. young players today and if he handles them differently. His answer, in full:
“Everything is different. You may challenge a veteran more. There’s no question you handle veterans versus young players in different ways. Arguably, some of the lapses in concentration that Cassie’s had, it’s just got youth written all over them. You discipline your 6-year-old different than you discipline your 17-year-old or whatever. So it’s case by case. I just think discipline and watching this kid play and giving him a break just all seemed to fit, to me. And we’ll see We’ll see how he responds.”
Thanks for the reply.
Unlike your collegues (Wittenmyer & Sullivan) at least you gave it a shot. Not exactly the way I would've phrased it, but hey.... it is what it is.
Any idea how Quade's been disciplining his veterans... if at all?
Unless a couple of these players have been injured and nobody knows about it, nothing seems to have worked.
I do know that he talked with Ramirez about his play at third base. After that, Aramis seemed to be getting in front of more balls. Quade told us he talks to players privately and that the media and public usually won't know that it's happened.
>> Quade told us he talks to players privately and that the media and public usually won't know that it's happened. <<
As it should be.
Until the results of those conversations become apparent, we'll never know if those conversations even took place.
Thanks again, Bruce
i'd like to add that Quade is doing a good job.
He's doing fine. Don't count him out.
I agree.... and maintain that he's the type of guy the Cubs need for next year to crack the whip, get the team to focus and reverse some of the damage that's been done during the Baker/Piniella years which had created the "country club atmosphere" (for lack of a better term).
Once that's been established and they find out which players are on-board with that and get rid of the players who aren't.... THEN the Cubs need to turn the wheel over to a real manager.
But not before... or that real manager's talent will go to waste as it did with Baker & Piniella.
isn't a REAL manager??
The Cubs did not put the "interim" tag on his title. And a good many managers who went on to have success followed a similar path. In the not-too-distant past, two who had nice runs were Tommy Lasorda and Tom Kelly. Both were third-base coaches for their respective teams. Kelly was pretty much an unheard of when the Twins named him manager. I'm not comparing Quade to either, but he's definitely in the running, and who knows, he could have a nice run.
Quade is a guy that's "paid his dues". NOT Ryne Sandberg.
What was it, 17 years as minor league manager for Quade?
He makes a fine candidate. So long as he doesn't bunt like Brenly!
Booz - your comment underlies why this whole "paid his dues" discussion is silly. There are literally hundreds like Mike Quade in baseball organizations across the country that have dedicated their lives to teaching/ coaching baseball. Similarly - there are some incredibly successful managers in MLB who have "paid fewer dues" than Sandberg has to date. How many years in minors or on MLB staffs have recent WS winners like Girardi, Guillen or Scioscia spent before getting hired? So paying dues really doesn't matter.
I liken Sandberg's situation to a Boise St/ TCU in the BCS. When Sandberg expressed an interest in getting into coaching 4 years ago, nobody thought he was manager-material. So he went to the minors and coached 4 teams at 3 levels and those teams won. But because Sandberg wasn't ranked in the pre-season poll (fascetiously speaking) he has to show a lot more than the ex-players who looked like managers when they retired from baseball (ie - the Alabama and Texas' of the world in Girardi and Sciosia).
I have no analogy that works for Quade (maybe he's Indiana winning the Big 10 in football - they've always been there but nobody ever noticed), but he has shown a lot in his two weeks as manager so far.
The whole "paid his dues" argument is meaningless. I just don't think the people saying "Sandberg paid his dues" realize that he really hasn't done anything many, many others have done.
Not yet.
He's a "respirator".
A real manager is waiting to be transplanted when all the toxins are flushed from the system, the patient is stabilized so that the transplant has a better chance of succeeding and allowing the patient to live a long, normal life.
This patient has been on life support for over 100 years now and it's either time to pull the plug or start doing things the right way by promoting a healthy lifestyle.
if you have any gut feel on how big the field will be? I mean, we typically ponder Fredi Gonzalez, Ryne Sandberg, Mike Quade, and a few others, but do you think the field will get significantly wider, or will it be someone from the guys being discussed? Obviously, a long way to go, but curious if you have a gut feel on it.
Castro needs some time off to gather himself.
I have no problem with Castro being given a little "mental" break. Now, if the manager can have the guts to bench a veteran for lack of hustle, we might have something.
Quade has had a lot of experience with young players. He pointed out the kid has had a lot thrown at him. Since coming up, he's played in 106 of 107 games.
The Cubs did *not* make the mistake of failing to commit to the young guy. When Castro stopped hitting in JUne, I was braced for them to start doinking him around -- "Kid, we still like you, but you need to sit a day -- a week -- a month -- kid, you need to go back to the minors." But for once, they stuck with a young guy through the bad patch and he's come out of it a major league ballplayer. Once he learns to count to 3 outs, anyway...