Welington Castillo, C
.
BaseballHQ sez,
Sacrificed some patience and BA for PX, gaining loft with hr/f jumping by half. It's a tradeoff fantasy owners should accept, as (chronically low) xBA says 2013 BA was outlier. But here's the proper perspective... his 8-HR, .234 line in the 2nd half generated an above average BPX (114). The bar is very low these days.
.
His Runs Created per 27 Outs is right around 4.00, which is exactly where Shandler projects him in 2015.
- Expected batting average: .233
- EYE: 0.30
- Power Index (100 being average): 115
Two words: John Buck. Not as tall, though. Buck's career hitting line was at .235/.300/.400, similar to but inferior to Castillo.
Jesus Sucre was at .067/.067/.067 this year; the M's believed in him when they called him up, but something has caused them to bail out. We're guessing they will not release that information in a press memo.
.......
If he is as poor defensively as Matt says, then McClendon is even more into a Hammer-Screwdriver-Pliers bench than he was previously. But Biology Rick sez,
rick82:
I like the deal personally. Castillo has a strong arm, and is a league average hitter with some pop. Apparently needs some work pitch framing, but apparently has made strong improvements this season. Importantly, he's a decent hitter for the bottom of the lineup.
.
I like shedding Medina personally. I always flinched when he came into the game, and I don't turn on Seattle Mariner games because I'm hoping to flinch. I get enough of that when my daughter comes in at 1 am...
The Fans' Scouting Report fielding -- based on visual impression -- has Cubs' fan ratings for the last several years. They say he's real slow with a superb arm and average instincts. On plays out in front of the plate, he's been average to strong.
I guess that leaves framing, which leaves a lot ... maybe they can pair him with pitchers whose reps trump his. :: shrug :: We'll non-racistly assume that Mr. Wellington learned Spanish in the D.R. and non-racistly assume that this fact will not annoy Felix Hernandez or Roenis Elias. As to Cano, Cruz, and Rodney, well ... when do we get our "honoring the D.R. day" with the collectible Mariners jersey? I'll buy. Seriously.
A backup catcher never won a championship, unless it was John Jaso or somebody. But if they intend to keep Zuuumball fresher, kewl beans. Personally I think you need downtime in order to consolidate your thinking.
..........
.
Wellington Castillo has a career slash line of .252/.320/.398 (a 97 OPS+) in 320 games, the equivalent of two full seasons. Mike Zunino does not.
In fact, when you consider that Castillo has hit solidly the league average (?!) in 400+ PA's, each of the last two seasons, at ages 26-27, it's a little weird that you should get him for a single shunned long reliever. Zduriencik has shown a real knack for this, coming up with demonstrated talent (LoMo, Smith, etc) off his bullpen extrys. Low sacrifice, solid return.
Castillo's pitch framing is the only thing that would, objectively speaking, keep him behind Mike Zunino for the number one job. Ah, well, there's the rook for our Dominican Republic chess set. Coupla pawns left to go and we'll open Pawn to King's Fourth.
Cheers,
Dr. D