Miami Marlins Getting Steady Production From Starlin Castro

There are very few aspects of the Miami Marlins offense that are positive to start the season.  Luckily Starlin Castro is one of the bright spots in the lineup.

Castro has improved on what was an excellent season in 2017 with the New York Yankees and is providing steady production batting third in the Miami Marlins lineup.

Production

Through 24 games Castro is slashing .302/.355/.344 with a .699 OPS. This outstanding performance at the plate has lead to 12 runs scored and eight RBI. In addition, Castro has walked nine times. Castro is getting on-base via the hit and base on balls at a relative high rate to start the season.

Castro has seven multi-hit games, including two three hit performances. Two of these occurrences have occurred during his current five game hitting streak. In addition to his multi-hit performances, Castro has also scored twice in three games. Two of which the Miami Marlins ended up victorious.

Stumbling Block

An issue with Castro thus far is his strikeout rate. In 107 plate appearances Castro is striking out in 20.6 percent of them. While this is less than optimal, Castro is still getting hits and that is most important. Moving forward it is important to cut down on his strikeouts. It is hard to score runs if the third batter in the order is striking out in one fifth of his plate appearances.

Another issue with Castro is his relative light production while batting third in the order. Castro is not the prototypical three hitter, however his high average could allow runs to score. In theory this would work however Castro has grounded into seven double plays this year, In 2017 Castro grounded into 9 over the course of 112 games. It appears inevitable that Castro will eclipse this number.

The Bottom Line

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Possibly the most important issue is that the Miami Marlins as a whole have not performed well enough to be driven in. The team as a whole has a batting average of .224 and an on-base percentage of .299. Essentially it is hard to drive people in if nobody can get on base. If the Marlins can get on base at a higher rate it will provide more chances for Castro to drive in runs.

Castro can hit and drive in runs and potentially help lead to a win. This may be wishful thinking but it is not out of the question from happening.

Next: Tayron Guerrero: Sabermetric Superstar

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