Let me give you some context around this interview with a 19-year-old Starlin Castro. It’s November of 2009 and he’s about to start playing with the Leones of Escogido, a Dominican Winter League team.
Starlin just wrapped up a pretty good year in the minors where he played at three different levels and topped out at AA:
He hit .307 with a .349 OBP and slugged .399.He hit just 4 HRs yet stole 39 bases. Before the season Baseball America had him pegged as the Cubs 7th best prospect. A couple months after this interview was taped, they ranked him as the #1 prospect on the team, so this was clearly a very good year for his development and some chatter had begun about when he might make it to the big leagues.
OK, roll the tape (we’re picking this up at around 0:55):
Who is your favorite player, a player that you’ve always followed?
When I was young, it was Miguel Tejada [Miguel Tejada does a face palm]. Now that I’m older, I still like Tejada, but I like Hanley [Ramirez].
Why?
Because he’s a complete player. He can hit the ball out of the park, he can run, he can defend, he has all the fundamentals, and that’s something that I’d like to do in the future. [Very nice, standard stuff you would expect from a 19-year-old kid that topped out playing at AA. He was very careful not to snub Tejada but he likes how complete Hanley is. This is one of those answers that I’m sure makes guys like Tejada roll their eyes and go “I’m not THAT old!” But overall, a nice answer that’s very humble.]
[Jumping ahead to: 1:55]
At age 19, some people think it’s too early to talk about you at the big league level, that you’re too raw. An expert that watched you at the instructional league said that you don’t have a ceiling. And that if they let you into Spring Training, you could take that SS spot and make it your own. [In retrospect, this doesn’t seem far fetched, but back in 2009 this was kind of a stretch. A SS that can barely hit for power and is still developing his defense at age 19? To win the job out of spring training? Not likely]
That’s what I’m going for, to earn my spot. I know that I have a chance. [The interviewer starts to take the mic away because it sounds like he’s done answering…BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!] Because the SS that’s there now—I can compete with him. [OK, let’s talk about this, because this is a little bit of confidence mixed with a direct shot at the current Cubs SS: Ryan Theriot. Theriot had a career year in 2008 (.307/.387./.359 with 22 steals out of the leadoff spot) and followed that up with a “nice” 2009 (.284/.343/.369 with 21 steals). You hear prospects intimate at how close they are to making it to the bigs WAY before they’re actually ready, but this was calling out a specific player. A guy who is a starter at the big-league level…oh Starlin…big leaguers do NOT like this kind of thing, by the way.]
Do you consider yourself a power hitter, a line-drive hitter?
Line drive hitter. Maybe I don’t have all the power in the world, but I’m only 19 so maybe in the future I’ll have more power [Got to give it to the kid here…he pretty much nailed it: Starlin never hit more than 4 HRs in a minor-league season and then he went 3, 10, 14, 10, 14 in each successive big-league season.].
The Aftermath
- Starlin had a pretty bad 8 games with Escogido that winter (.182/.280/.182 in 22 ABs).
- He had already played in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .376/.396/.475 in 101 ABs. If you’re keeping tabs, that’s 592 ABs for Starlin in 2009…yowza.
- He did indeed get invited to Spring Training in 2010, where he impressed (.421/.661/.714 with a HR and 2 3Bs).
- Ryan Theriot started 2010 as the starting SS and moved over to 2B in May, where Castro proceeded to:
His 3rd AB would be a 3-run triple. Welcome to the big leagues Starlin…we’re lucky to have you!
Image by Johnmaxmena2
The Stretch 