Chicago Cubs: Where do you go, Starlin Castro?

Where is this place that you go, Starlin?

I know his stats don’t show it, but I’ve been impressed with the

Chicago Cubs’

and his effort in the field–for the most part. The errors are still there, but he’s been more aggressive in the field, attacking the ball and making some nice plays defensively. But last night left me once again asking: Where do you go, Castro? Where is your mind in those moments?

I’m all about reflecting on past mistakes to understand how to overcome them in the future. But reflecting immediately after the mistake as you stare into the outfield, allowing a runner to score from second? What were you thinking about? How deep did your thoughts go? How could you not hear Kyle Hendricks yelling your name? It wasn’t just an error that affected you. Granted, Hendricks wasn’t sharp, but that was two runs that were unnecessary.

The other aspect of this, is that in most cases player in the Major Leagues make a lot of assumptions whether it’s right or wrong to do so. They get to a base and assume, “I’ll just stay right here, this is far enough.” And while these types of mental gaffes have been few and far between for Castro, they’ve happened enough that opponents may actually be looking for them. They’re looking for him to go to whatever place he goes that makes him forget about the game that he’s in.

I wonder what that place is like. Who’s there with him? Is it a happy place meant to forget about the error he just made? That may have been the case when he got the pop-up in shallow center field and seem to forget how many outs, as the runner tagged from third. He may have been happy to make the catch and went to his “happy place”.

Wherever he goes, I’m sure he won’t be going back again soon after talking with Cubs’ skipper Joe Maddon.

Next: Is a big time trade on the horizon?