Maddon Looking to Give Castro Work at Second, But Should He?
The Chicago Cubs have made some interesting lineup changes over the past few games, but the most notable change to the group has been the full-time replacement of Starlin Castro as the team’s everyday shortstop.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon made it clear that Castro was not just getting days off when this whole process started out, and he has consistently kept the shortstop out of the lineup as the team’s offense has picked up steam. On Tuesday, Maddon did toss Castro a bit of a life preserver, as he announced that the 25-year old would get reps at both second and third base during batting practice:
The move comes as Maddon looks to get Castro more playing time, but the question that immediately has to be asked is this: should the team be making that big a push to get Castro into the lineup? After all, putting Castro at a place like third base would likely mean that Kris Bryant would be sitting out, and putting him at second would either push Chris Coghlan or Kyle Schwarber out of the mix.
There are ways around benching those players to get Castro playing time, but time and again this season the infielder has shown that he is incapable of making the adjustments necessary to break out of his slump, and his regression was a big part of the reason why the team’s offense was so putrid at times during the campaign.
Even with all of that being said, it’s understandable to a degree that Maddon wants Castro to continue to be a part of the Cubs’ lineup. Adding more quality bats is always a good thing for an offense as it goes through ups and downs, so hopefully Maddon will be able to strike a balance between giving Castro playing time without throwing off the hot streak of players like Russell and Schwarber.
Windy City Hardball 