Starlin Being Starlin?

Hopefully not.  But this is completely unacceptable in the Major Leagues.  In Sunday's loss to the Cardinals, Starlin Castro was caught on the TV cameras, on ESPN no less, with his back to the infield as a pitch was being thrown.  In the picture here, take a look at shortstop to see what happened.  Castro, who must have been thinking about his at-bat a half-inning before or something, wasn't paying attention for most of the half-inning, walking around and looking at the sky, outfield, and crowd.  On the pitch you see here in the picture, the batter is Daniel Descalso.  If Descalso hit a ball to shortstop it would just roll on into left field and Castro wouldn't have noticed until after.  This is crazy, and I've never seen anything like this at the Major League level.

ESPN analyst Bobby Valentine even said on the TV broadcast that this is totally unacceptable in the Majors.  We've all seen our share of baseball players slacking off- whether it be baserunners sitting down on the bases, outfielders picking grass or infielders kicking up dirt out of boredom.  These mistakes affect seven-year-olds, not 21-year-old MLB All-Stars.

Of course, Castro apologized for his actions and said they will never happen again.  Knowing how much Castro loves the game and wants to play every day, the apology was probably genuine and not a forced grumble.  But whether it will happen again is not the focus; one occurrence of this is one too many.  I don't think Starlin needs to be reminded that his job as an MLB player is one of the most coveted in the world and that focus on every single pitch is mandatory to earn and keep the job.  But he is young and a relaxed guy on the baseball field, and it showed here.

The fact that this happened on national TV has helped it become somewhat of a national news story, although it probably doesn't need to be.  In the long run, however, it could end up a good mistake for him to learn from.  If there is anything negative in Castro's game that scouts can pick up on besides his defense, it's that sometimes he seems a little too relaxed and lackadaisical out there, almost like a Hanley Ramirez.  This incident should make Castro more motivated to focus and prove to the organization and fan base that he can be the face of the franchise for years to come, which is definitely a good thing.

Aramis Ramirez has now said that he thinks too much is being made out of this story.  While that may be true, he should have done something about it himself.  Ramirez has never been a very vocal guy, and while he may be the hottest hitter on the planet right now, he needed to say something during the game Sunday night.  Sure, Ramirez's demeanor on the field comes off as being a lazy bum.  But at least he knows enough to be in ready position each and every pitch.

That was a time for Ramirez to speak up and say something to Castro about it, but didn't.  As a successful veteran and the longest tenured position player on the Cubs, that is part of his duty for his team.  Even though Castro obviously should've been focused, there's a learning process here that should help him mature, especially if his hispanohablante amigo Ramirez is there to help him out.