Castro's road to All-Star Game a Cubs team effort

Starlin Castro's road to the All-Star Game has been a short one, but the kid certainly didn't drive it alone.

The 21-year old shortstop was named Sunday to be the Cubs' only representative to the National League team for the July 12 game at Phoenix.

He became the youngest player in franchise history to be named to an All-Star Game.

“It feels real good; I feel real excited to make it there,” Castro said in English. He had coach Ivan DeJesus by his side but chose to do the interview speaking English and without an translator's help. “My family is real happy, too. Real special.”

“Real special” is what sums up Castro, too.

He's still an unfinished product, but he's by far the best player on the Cubs, and he's starting to play the game with élan, too.

In the fourth inning of Sunday's 3-1 victory over the White Sox, Castro tripled to left-center. He hesitated for a split second rounding second before loping into third base and diving in just head of the tag.

I can't remember when the Cubs had a young player this exciting. But I do remember when Corey Patterson came up a few years ago. He was supposed to be what Castro is now.

But whereas Castro is ebullient, self-confident and loose, Patterson was withdrawn, quiet and seemingly wound too tight for his own good.

Castro has all the talent in the world, but Cubs people were quick to pass around the credit for discovering and developing their phenom from the Dominican Republic.

Starting at the top, general manager Jim Hendry praised farm director Oneri Fleita.

“Oneri deserves a lot of credit,” Hendry said. “When you are in charge of the minor leagues, it goes way more than just telling the general manager who can play and who can't. He's helped bring these people along, a lot of kids from other countries.

“Go back to (Carlos) Zambrano. Go to (Carlos) Marmol. Go to Castro, and they'll tell you that there were times along the way that the farm director had a great influence with them off the field, too, which is all part of it.

“We forget sometimes. Put ourselves in an 18-, 20-, 21-year-old kid's place, not from our own country. If we had to go somewhere and play, perform, meet expectations, continue to rise up the system, it's not easy. You need not just good coaches in the minor leagues and good evaluators.”

Hendry also cited Latin American coordinator Jose Serra, who signed Castro.

“Jose Serra, we've always felt the last 7-8 years that we had one of the best scouts in Latin America,” Hendry said. “It's a process of not only a young man doing well. It's a trust factor in that country that Jose has to back up what he believes in.

“Jose Serra in the Dominican does way more than a scout does. He becomes their older brother, their trust factor, their mentor in some ways. As that relationship grows … it's all a very important factor in getting a guy to the big leagues. It isn't all what numbers you put up in the Florida State League.”

Fleita was beaming like a proud papa Sunday, as he hugged Castro on the field during batting practice. The farm director wanted to give credit even farther down the scouting chain.

“It's exciting,” Fleita said. “Really excited for Starlin and really excited for Jose Estevez. He's a part-time scout. This is his second all-star. We talk about Jose Serra a lot, but he (Estevez) is a part-time scout who recommended both Marmol and Castro.

“The job they do down there, we certainly appreciate. The backbone of this business is scouting.”

Castro's name began coming up seriously in 2009, when he batted .302 at Class A Daytona before getting a promotion to Class AA Tennessee.

It was about at that time when the Cubs knew they had something special.

“He makes the all-star team,” Fleita said of '09. “He goes 4-for-4, inside-the-park homer. He goes to the Futures Game, goes up to Double-A and finishes his season out in the Arizona Fall League.

“I remember getting a call from (ex-Cubs and current GM in the Dominican) Moises Alou. He asked us for permission that he could play after the Fall League in the Dominican.

“He was going to have him play for two weeks, to play for Mom and Dad and give him an opportunity to play in his country. To get a call from Moises to say, ‘Boy, you've got something special,' that might have capped off the year.

“But to see him grow in front of our eyes as quickly as he has, I don't think anybody would have had a crystal ball that would have projected that.”

Part of that development has been Castro's increasing comfort speaking English. When he came up last year, he relied on DeJesus almost exclusively. But when surrounded Sunday by a host of reporters in the dugout, he conversed in English, something he does more and more.

“I think that's the best thing I heard all day,” Fleita said. “I saw him with his translator over there. Ivan's been very supportive and what a nice guy to have in the dugout with him throughout his major-league development.

“It's time. He speaks great English, and I'm glad to see that he had the confidence to go out and express himself in our language. Job well done.”

Most of the talk so far has been about Castro's offense, but in the last week or so, he has looked more and more confident in the field. He made perhaps his best play of the season Friday against the White Sox, going deep into the hole and completing the play with a strong throw.

He made a pair of good plays Sunday. The Cubs, at this point, maintain Castro will remain a shortstop.

So we'll close by asking the greatest shortstop in team history, Ernie Banks, how good he thinks Castro can be.

“He can run. He's got a great arm. He can throw. He can hit. He's a great young player,” said Mr. Cub, who was on hand Sunday. “He's better than me. He's better than me.”

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