Starlin Castro or Alcides Escobar

[DHarris34Phan]

Both rookie shortstops.

 

Take your pick.

[sveumrules]

Right now Castro, as much as it pains me to say it. He is younger and has performed better this year.

As for the future, all I know for certain is where we're going we don't need roads.

[Ennder]

Escobar based on what they have done this year. Better fielder, better baserunner. Castro has a little more power but not a ton more. Most of the difference in their results on the year is just BABIP(.366 vs .279), I don't put much stock in that.

 

I don't know enough about Castro's minor league career to comment on the big picture though.

[jwill535]

Castro is pretty baseball dumb. Although on the flip side, Escobar has his own demons, more off the field then anything(see Ex girlfriend).

[BrewCrewForever]

Castro is more advanced at the plate right now, but Escobar has the better glove (though it is close). I think Escobar will improve at the plate and close the gap.

[Ennder]

Castro is more advanced at the plate right now, but Escobar has the better glove (though it is close). I think Escobar will improve at the plate and close the gap.

 

Is that really true though. Escobar has lower K/9, higher BB/9, higher LD%,. All of theier contact rates, rates of swinging at balls out of the zone etc are just small percentage points apart. The biggest thing I can really find that Castro has done better is have a higher BABIP and a lot of times that is just a factor of luck, especially given the gap in LD%(Escobar's is 3.3% higher but with almost a .100 difference in BABIP). Granted Escobar has popped out more which is part of it but I still thnk most of the difference is just balls falling in or not between these two.

[AdvantageSchneider]

It's Castro, and I don't think it's even close. Castro is 3 years younger and is putting up a better season than Escobar is right now even if you adjust for the high BABIP. He's really killing escobar in slugging .439 to 341.

 

Right now Castro has 2.3 WAR and Escobar is 0.7. Castro has spent more time in the majors than he spent in AA. (The only caveat being that Cstro is really 20 and not 25, but I think they've tightened up on those ages for the latin players.)

 

Escobar had 40 games in the bigs coming into this year and he's not showing anything close to what Castro is doing. Escobar has the better glove but the stick has to come around and I'm not sure it will at least not enough to end up being the more productive player.

[TooLiveBrew]

Castro. That pains me to say.

[Ennder]

It's Castro, and I don't think it's even close. Castro is 3 years younger and is putting up a better season than Escobar is right now even if you adjust for the high BABIP. He's really killing escobar in slugging .439 to 341

 

But again almost all of that is in BABIP which also improve SLG. Castro is one of those guys who will likely hit the exact same next year but people will say he is going through a sophomore slump because his OPS drops by .050 points and he hits under .290 when it will just be regressing to the mean in luck.

 

If you give Escobar the same BABIP as Castro and assume all the extra hits are singles he gains 33 singles on the year which is an insane number because they have been on the opposite spectrum of luck, Castro has been one of the luckiest in baseball and Escobar given his speed and contact rate has been one of the unluckiest. That turns Escobar's line into .325/.370/.423/.793. Right now Castro is at .321/.363/.443/.806.

 

The difference in their hitting is 100% in BABIP and while some of that may be a skill of Castros not that much of it most likely is. This is pretty easily shown in their peripherals as Escobar has had better plate discipline and a better LD% so it is fully supported. I think Castro has been more of a fluke than anything and I'll take the superior speed and fielding of Escobar.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think you're severely undervaluing how much younger Castro is than Escobar, even though they're obv. both still young. Luck or not, Castro has produced better results in the bigs while three years younger than Alcides, and Castro was clearly the superior hitter in MiLB.

[AdvantageSchneider]

I think you're severely undervaluing how much younger Castro is than Escobar, even though they're obv. both still young. Luck or not, Castro has produced better results in the bigs while three years younger than Alcides, and Castro was clearly the superior hitter in MiLB.

+1

 

Castro will likely add some additional power since he's so young I don't Escobar will ever have 20 HR pop in his bat.

 

[benji]

Castro appears to be better and is younger. I am worried that Escobar will be a punch and judy hitter with limited power.

[Buckylovesbeer]

One key factor you guys all need to think about......Castro has been ruined because he is a Cub. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Diskono]

If you guys think Starlin Castro is good, wait til you see his little brother, Maro Trotsky.