Miles: Cubs' Castro excited about season
MESA, Ariz. - It may seem hard to believe, but Starlin Castro has reported for his sixth big-league camp with the Cubs.
And he doesn't turn 25 until March 24.
Even at his young age, Castro has seen and experienced a lot.
He's on his fifth manager in Joe Maddon. Castro broke in with a bang as Lou Piniella was doing a slow fade out in 2010. Mike Quade, Dale Sveum and Rick Renteria all have come and gone.
The shortstop has three All-Star Games on his resume, including last year, when he enjoyed a bounce-back season.
Castro has made some unwanted headlines off-the-field in recent years, including this off-season, when he was questioned by police for being at the scene when gunshots were fired at a nightclub in his home country of the Dominican Republic.
But there Castro was Tuesday morning at the Cubs' spring-training facility, facing the media and talking about baseball and making better life decisions.
"I think it's going to be a really fun season," he said. "I think we have a team that can compete. We can compete with whatever team because we've got a lot of good players here, a new manager.
"It's tough. I've never been on a winner. I think this year is my first time."
Almost all of Castro's spring training was derailed last year because of a hamstring injury, but he says he's in good shape after doing some physical exercises that he had never done in his life.
If the Cubs indeed are going to contend in 2015, they'll need Castro's career arc to continue the upswing it made last year, when he had a line of .292/.339/.438 with 14 homers and 65 RBI. A high-ankle sprain he suffered last Sept. 2 cost him the rest of the season and perhaps a chance to hit .300 for the third time in his career.
"For sure," he said. "If I didn't get hurt in September, I hit .300 because I felt really good. A lot of players feel tired because it's September. Not me. I felt really strong."
Like everyone else on the team, Castro will be showing his wares for the first time to Maddon, who seems to be keeping an open mind.
"I know he's good," Maddon said. "He's been on the all-star team several times. He's a very good hitter. I know he struggled a bit, maybe a year or so ago, but he came back strongly.
"He's got power. He can hit. He's a pretty good shortstop, also. He's got a fine arm. He can run. Complete player. I've just watched from a distance."
Castro spent time working in Arizona this winter and has talked of moving to the United States permanently to avoid getting himself into troublesome situations back home. But he admitted that might be difficult.
"I have a place, but I didn't buy it yet," he said. "We'll see. I'm watching some places here and maybe Tampa-Orlando, too, so that we don't have to go straight to the Dominican. It's not easy because all my family are from there, and I love being there. I've grown up there. It's not easy.
"I can be in my house without a lot of problems. The problems come (outside of) your house. The problems come when you're in the wrong place. If you stay in the quiet, when you're home with your family, I think those problems don't come."
The Cubs have stuck with Castro through the bad times.
"I think they do, and I say thank you, because some problems happened last year and they were still there with me and trust me," he said.
On the field, Castro is a player who likes to play and play a lot. He led the National League in at-bats each year from 2011-13 and led in hits (207) in 2011. Last season he started 103 games at the cleanup hitter and also batted second, third, fifth and sixth.
If there's anything he'd like, it would be a little consistency.
"I say whatever," he said. "Wherever they put me, I try to do my job. The only thing that I like is if he puts me sixth, seventh, leave me there. I like one spot, and that's it."
Maddon seems amenable to that.
"The thing about a guy like him, he probably hits righties and lefties equally well like (the Rays' Evan Longoria)," Maddon noted, correctly. "Even though Longo liked to hit third, I hit him fourth a lot based only on RBI opportunities. You're looking to put a guy (in) and highlight his abilities the best in the right spot.
"So I don't know where Starlin exactly has done his best work at this particular point. The breakdown would come versus-right, versus-left. That's where people become confused with all that stuff. With the Rays for so many years, we had to do that because we had natural platoons or matchups situations that created that.
"You would love to be able to place guys in the same spot every night. … We'll see how it plays. I don't have any answers for that except that he's the kind of guys who hits both sides equally well. So he's the kind of guy you would leave alone."
• Follow Bruce on Twitter@BruceMiles2112.