Luis Castillo - SOOOOO underrated

[JDogg]

Ok I'd like to take this time to ruin a well kept secret for a lot of people. Luis Castillo. He's currently ranked on MLB.com as the 6th fantasy second basemen. In this world of no stealing, how can this atrocity have occured you ask???

Luis Castillo had the least talked about injury in Major League baseball. He had a pulled hamstring all last year, and didn't have full speed all year. Let's look at CS% by year shall we??

00 - 26%
01 - 32%
02 - 23%
03 - 48%

HELLO!!!! Anyway, sorry to all of you hoping no one would find this out. Expect Castillo to top 30 bags at least this year.

[Pedantic]

How do we know he'll be back to the same speed he was before the injury?

[wrveres]

he averaged two stolen bases a month once Mckeon arrived. Hamstring or Mckeon, I'd say his chance of 30 SBin '04 is just about as likely as him hitting 6 homers again. 6th best is just about right....

[TheYanks04]

Really. If anything the guy is overrated.

[Jivedude]

Hamstring? Wasn't it some sort of hip problem?

[trevisc]

Really. If anything the guy is overrated.

I agree.

I was looking at 2b rankings and some have him ranked higher then Vidro or Michael Young or even Reyes.

He's a little too inconsistant for me to take him higher then those guys.

2000 - 62 sbs
2001 - 33
2002- 48
2003 - 21


I just don't know which Castillo will show up in 2004.

I guess if you like your 2b to get around a .300 average and 20-30 steals then he is your man. but I don't think that warrants a top 5 pick at 2B. Reyes will match those numbers.

[Sticky Spice]

Hamstring? Wasn't it some sort of hip problem?

I thought it was a shoulder injury, but whatever it was, he're my Luis Castillo timeline:

preseason consensus was that he was too timid to steal from the injury

Then in spring training ....he was stealing

(I hope I have my facts right here....)

There was some question as to who would lead off and who would bat second. We saw how that turned out...

Despite that, the Marlins were stealing like maniacs and Castillo was still managing to get his, despite getting caught more

Then McKeon was hired

I think Luis Castillo can get back to 30+ sb a year, but it would have taken him getting to a team that needed him to lead off. A 2nd place hitter can get plenty of steals, but when you have a guy like Pierre ahead of you, man it's tough. Sac bunts, hit-and-runs, having a guy ahead of you on the bases, I-Rod hitting right behind you, it all kinda adds up.

I agree that Luis Castillo is underrated ....in real baseball. I was impressed that he adapted so well to the 2 hole. I think he had to swallow his pride a little, but he got some nice jewelry outta the deal.

[stumpak]

Castillo is one of the more overrated fantasy players. Sure, he will hit .300, but I'd bet he barely breaks 20 steals, and is complete dead weight in HRs and RBIs. He kills you in a rotisserie league. On top of all this, he is chronically injured.

[Cornbread Maxwell]

Already mentioned here a couple times, but it really needs to be said again - Mckeon holds the reigns pretty tight in terms of base stealing. At least, that is his MO. The Marlins did slow down on the bases once he was hired. I think this will negatively affect Castillo's SBs. In my mind, there are a handful of 2b that will produce similar to Castillo, but may not have as big a name as he does. Overrated.