The Chicago Cubs might have a gem on their hands with 22-year-old shortstop Starlin Castro. He's had 508 hits since making his MLB debut on May 7, 2010, which is more hits than any player in the National League in that stretch of time.
That being said, the Cubs want even more out of him. According to Sahadev Sharma of ESPN Chicago, manager Dale Sveum is looking for Castro to become a "full, prolific-type hitter."
"We don't want to be hit-chasers," Sveum said. "We want him to be a complete, full, prolific-type hitter. Those kind of three-run homers happen more often because of the timing issues. Not just being worried about hits, the OPS and all that comes into play with adjusting to situations."
It's not that Castro is dissatisfying to the higher-ups, it's just that his potential is through the roof and the organization has a lot invested in him. At the end of the day, they don't want to take a look at the stat sheet and see that 508 hits is all he's accounted for. They want to see him pull through in specific situations, and they want to see him take advantage of every opportunity he gets.
Sveum followed it up by saying he hopes Castro can get to "another level," which is basically saying he wants Castro to be a star. If Castro manages to hit more three-run homers like he did in Friday's 7-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, he'll likely be considered at that level, too.
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