It seems that every time Jose Castillo steps up to the plate with a runner on first, I expect him to hit into a double play or strike out in some ugly way. I am not inspired by our current third baseman.
A few weeks ago, I compared Castillo to the guy he replaced, Pedro Feliz.
Some of the stats are still remarkably similar (note: all statistics were from the start of the day, not including games played on Monday). Both have 85 total bases. Castillo has 50 total hits to Feliz' 52. Castillo has hit into 11 double plays (is that all?), with Feliz laying claim to 9 (is that all?). Batting averages are both similarly mediocre: .255 and .259. OBP is close, too: .308 to .297.
The big difference offensively? Castillo has an anemic 19 RBIs, compared to Feliz' 28 (not monster numbers for certain, but better than what Castillo's putting out). And Castillo has struck out 36 times to Feliz' 20 whiffs.
And, of course, defensively Feliz is better. His FPCT/RF/ZR is .972/2.89/.816; Castillo is .950/2.65/.806. Feliz has 4 errors; Castillo has nearly double that at 7.
The Giants are woeful on offense. A middling bat such as Castillo needs to at least make up for that with stellar defense. And that's just not happening. Every now and then he gets lucky and, say, starts a triple play. But day-to-day, he's limited and not as effective as the team needs him to be.
My conclusion last time I compared the two fellas: "But despite all this, you'll never catch me wistfully wishing that we still had Happy Pete, though. I cringed every time he stepped up to the plate. At least with Castillo the expectations are extremely low, and he meets those low expectations nicely." I suppose one part is still true - I don't wish that Feliz were still with the team. But I think Castillo and the way he barely meets his low expectations are not helpful to a team that needs to develop and nurture its young talent. Other positions need to play crisply to help the rookie infielders hone their craft. Castillo is not the man for the job.
Of course, the question still remains - where do we find someone who is?
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