Just a few days ago I was annoyed over the fact that Willi Castro started at third base, replacing Matt Shaw in the lineup after the rookie was scratched because of personal reasons. Castro has been really bad since June 21, and even worse since the Cubs acquired him at the trade deadline from the Minnesota Twins. Meanwhile, outfield prospect Kevin Alcántara, who was called up from Triple-A once rosters expanded on Sept. 1, has only gotten seven plate appearances in nine games.
All the while the Cubs offense has been bad. Thanks to the pitching staff the team has stayed atop the Wild Card standings in the National League, but they also have the San Diego Padres and New York Mets to thank for not really putting on much pressure during the past month. It’s always easy to make moves from the couch and one of the possible solutions seems simple enough, give other guys more playing time instead of the ones who are struggling.
You would have thought that with Kyle Tucker being sidelined with a calf strain that a guy like Alcántara would indeed be given more of an opportunity. Instead, with Tucker on the injured list and Seiya Suzuki out on Friday because of illness Alcántara still can’t find his way into the starting nine.
But hey, at least there’s one other prospect getting a start as Moises Ballesteros is the DH against the Tampa Bay Rays.
On the plus side, Castro is maybe getting back on track? He’s reached base at least once in six straight games, going 5-for-19, with three walks and a HBP in that stretch. It certainly won’t make up for his .404 OPS during August, but it’s a start.
The main reasoning I guess I can get behind Castro getting these starts over Alcántara is that heading into October Alcántara most likely isn’t going to be on the playoff roster, while Castro most likely will as long as everyone remains healthy or returns healthy in the case of Tucker. With that being the case, then you’d probably don’t want Castro to be rusty once the postseason begins and he’s asked to play.
That’s all I got for now. It sucks to see Alcántara sit on the bench day after day while other guys slump, but at the same time those other guys are the players that need to contribute if the Cubs have any chance of making a deep playoff run.
