His first interview is up right now at www.houstonist.com. He was the Astros first round pick out of Standford.
Cool! If he can hit his way out of a wet paper bag, I'm all for him! Lord knows our other catchers can't.
Players can't sign until they're done playing college ball. I think Stanford made the College World Series, so we have to wait until that's finished to sign him.
Yes I think we need to move him immediately to the Astros screw double and Triple A anything at this point is better than what we have at catcher right now !!!!
He's a stud. 2-2, HR, 2 RBI and BB so far. Check out the interview if y'all haven't. http://houstonist.com/2008/06/13/interview_jason_castro_astros_2008_1.php
those are ausmanian numbers. i just heard them mention he's thrown out all three baserunners...didn't catch the end. is that for this game??
im liking him more and more. he's got power in his bat with plenty of bat speed. good approach and a pretty good eye. swing can get a little long at times, but that's to be expected from bigger guys (he's 6'3). he can go the other way with power and he's shown an ability to hit the ball to all fields. im not sold on him as a .300+ hitter yet, or even a .285 hitter because of his swing, but he's got more power than i originally thought. i'd probably expect him to be a .275/15/65 type hitter in the majors if he develops as expected, with a chance to hit close to 20 homers some day. solid defensively with good fundamentals and mechanics. his armstrength may only be average to a tick above average, but his footwork and exchange are solid, which allows his arm to play better than it really is.
noo...theyre completely different players. mauer is more of a singles and doubles hitter who hits line drives all over the field. doesnt create the necessary loft to hit homers consistently. better defensively and a better overall athlete than castro as well. castro has a swing that can create the backspin needed to hit 20 homers, but he doesnt have the short swing that mauer has to hit for a high average.
I always thought drafting a catcher with your #1 pick was the kiss of death. Every year catchers are took in round #1 and none of them pan out. I was surprised when we reached for Castro. There seemed to be many better hitters left on the board. Maybe there's a position change in the future since he doesn't appear to be a defensive all star either. This pick left me baffled.
