Last year? Don't worry about last year. So says everyone concerned about Jason Castro.
Jamie Quirk:
"There's a reason he's a No. 1 pick. He's got the great mental makeup and really picked things up well. We expect him to get better and better."
Ed Wade:
"He has to figure out the strength and weaknesses of the staff he's catching. You put all that stuff on a guy's plate at the same time, and his own personal statistics become somewhat secondary."
Mike Barnett:
"He's a much better hitter than what he showed last year. He had a lot to be accountable for. His mind is relaxed. He knows what he needs to do mechanically. It's just a matter of time. He's got the intangibles. He knows the strike zone. He doesn't swing at a lot of bad pitches. Now it's just a matter of smoothing him out."
Do the numbers agree with Barnett? Well, sort of, yeah.
FanGraphs says Castro swung at 27.4% of pitches outside the strike zone. Chris Johnson took a hack at 43.1% of pitches outside the zone, and Humberto Quintero came in at 44.2%. The only everyday players with lower O-Swing% were Keppinger (20.8%), Berkman (21.2%) and Bourn (23.8%). It's not like the Astros have much of a choice besides giving Castro a season-long look, anyway.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
