Results tagged ‘ Welington Castillo ’
7/19 Minor League report
Welington Castillo hit his 12th homer and Tyler Colvin hit a triple and drove in a run but it wasn’t enough as Iowa lost to Nashville, 5-3, in 10 innings on Monday night. Alberto Cabrera gave up two runs on five hits and struck out six over six innings. Colvin, DJ LeMahieu, Ryan Flaherty and Scott Moore each had two hits.
Tennessee beat Mississippi 2-1 in 10 innings in the completion of Sunday’s suspended game. Ty Wright had four hits. In the regularly scheduled game, Austin Bibens-Dirkx gave up four runs on six hits over four innings and took the loss, 4-1.
Justin Bour hit his 19th homer and Michael Burgess hit his 12th as Daytona lost 10-5 to Bradenton. Greg Rohan had four hits in his first game with Daytona, and Matt Szczur posted his fourth straight multi-hit game.
Richard Jones had three hits and Matt Loosen threw five scoreless innings but Peoria lost, 5-3, in 10 innings to Fort Wayne. Jones had two RBIs and now has a 13-game hitting streak.
Zeke DeVoss, the Cubs’ third-round pick in June, stole five bases in his first game with Boise in an 8-7 loss to Spokane. The Hawks gave up five runs in the ninth.
Gioskar Amaya and Eduardo Gonzalez each had two hits in Mesa’s 4-3 win over the Dodgers.
– Carrie Muskat
3/21 Catching on
Welington Castillo is 12-for-17 this spring, and granted, that’s not very many at-bats, but he has opened some eyes.
“He’s played well, he’s a talented kid — he’s got a shot,” Mike Quade said of the young catcher. “But that’s where these kind of conversations [Tuesday] get in-depth as far as what’s best. [Geovany] Soto’s our starting catcher, period. I’m expecting big things and we’d love to see him even better.”
On Tuesday, Quade will meet with the Cubs front office to discuss some of the roster spots.
“This guy’s got a bright future,” Quade said of Castillo. “The decision on him will be based on that. [Should he be] sitting on the bench at Wrigley or getting at-bats every day. To me, I have a good feel for what I think can happen.”
The Cubs’ backup catching options include Castillo, Koyie Hill, and Max Ramirez.
– Carrie Muskat
3/21 Cubs to meet Tuesday re: roster
Mike Quade will meet Tuesday morning with GM Jim Hendry, assistant GM Randy Bush, pitching coach Mark Riggins, bench coach Pat Listach and others to discuss the state of the Cubs and make some roster decisions.
“It’s time to sit down,” Quade said Monday.
The Cubs have nine games remaining this spring.
“I think the conversation tomorrow basically talks about everybody’s role on this club — who’s still alive to make this club, who’s not, where we see the depth, the rankings from the pitching to the bullpen, the whole club,” Quade said. “We have decisions to make. We know a healthy [Aramis] Ramirez is our third baseman, but we’re going to go through the whole club — at least that’s what I want to do. We’ll look at every angle, every possibility.”
Quade has his opinions on certain players. For example, catcher Welington Castillo has opened his eyes. Castillo was batting .706 this spring. That’ll get your attention. However, they have to determine whether Castillo and the Cubs are better served if he’s starting at Triple-A Iowa or backing up Geovany Soto on the big league team. Blake DeWitt, on the other hand, is hitting .163 and still has work to do at second base.
Quade said he’s already had some healthy disagreements with Hendry, Bush and others, and that’s OK.
“I’m not of the mentality that I have to win,” Quade said. “I’m not an ego guy. I want to do the right thing.”
– Carrie Muskat
3/14 Cubs lineup vs Mariners
Kosuke Fukudome played 10 innings Sunday in Las Vegas and will be back in right field on Monday in Peoria, Ariz., when the Cubs play the Mariners. Matt Garza is starting and other pitchers slated to go include Sean Marshall, Justin Berg and Thomas Diamond. Here’s the lineup:
RF Fukudome
CF Johnson
2B Moore
LF Montanez
1B LaHair
3B Vitters
C Castillo
SS Barney
P Garza
– Carrie Muskat
3/7 Cubs lineup vs Angels
Here’s Monday’s Cubs lineup vs the Angels in Mesa. Carlos Silva is starting, and expected to throw about 45 pitches. It’s his first start since his one inning last Wednesday in Maryvale when he gave up a pair of two-run homers, then got into a dugout scuffle with Aramis Ramirez.
2B DeWitt
RF Colvin
CF Byrd
3B Ramirez
1B Pena
LF Soriano
C Castillo
SS Ojeda
P Silva
– Carrie Muskat
2/20 Traveling man Coello happy with Cubs
Robert Coello had a busy offseason. He pitched for Licey in the Dominican Republic, and was headed home but the Guasave team in Mexico called, so he joined them for a nine-game stretch. His last appearance was on Christmas Day.
Last week, the pitcher packed up his family and arrived in Florida to get ready for the Red Sox spring camp and then got a phone call from Cubs GM Jim Hendry. Coello was now with the Cubs after being traded for Minor League infielder Tony Thomas.
“It was a little bit surprising,” Coello said. “When the phone rang, Jim Hendry called me and told me about the trade and I was really happy to be with the Chicago Cubs.”
Last year, he totaled 145 innings in 49 games for four different teams, starting in April with Double-A Portland, where he was 4-1 with one save with a 3.32 ERA in 14 games. At Triple-A Pawtucket, he was 3-5 with a 4.22 ERA in 18 games, including nine starts. Then he went to the Dominican, and in his first start Oct. 22, he gave up one hit and two walks over five innings and fanned four.
When Coello pitched for Licey, his catcher was Welington Castillo of the Cubs.
“He said, ‘When I got the news I was coming here, I thought about you,’” said Castillo, who likes the right-hander’s fastball.
Coello must be good at packing a suitcase. He’s traveled quite a bit.
“[The trade] was a little difficult because you already know the organization,” he said, “but it is a business so from a business standpoint, you have to be open minded and hope you can be lucky to get into a good organization like this. I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about the Cubs.”
– Carrie Muskat
2/17 Cubs notebook
Blake DeWitt, Jeff Baker and Kosuke Fukudome are the three leading candidates to be the Cubs’ leadoff man. Manager Mike Quade plans on rotating the three during Cactus League games and would like to see someone assert themself and take the job. Fukudome, who has a career .368 on-base percentage in his three seasons with the Cubs, may be the best fit there.
“You can’t lose sight of the fact that if ‘Fuke’s’ in the lineup and it’s his day and he’s playing well, he’s the guy who fits best to me,” Quade said.
Quade did use Baker at the top of the order against some left-handed pitchers last season. Baker boasts a .350 average against lefties.
* Only the Nationals and the Pirates made more errors than the Cubs did last season and one of manager Mike Quade’s goals is to have the team play better defense. “We need to be better, period,” Quade said Thursday. “We talk about [Blake] DeWitt and we talk about [Starlin Castro] and those are two kids who have a lot of work to do in the middle of the diamond.
“If [Aramis Ramirez] is healthy, we should be fine,” Quade said. “I’ve seen [Carlos Pena] play very good first base. Our catcher, [Geovany Soto], needs improvement throwing. Whether we improve marginally or a little bit or whatever, it will be a point of emphasis [this spring].
“These guys will understand we need to be better defensively,” Quade said. “I believe, like most clubs, pitching and defense will be huge. We’ve got some arms we’re excited about but we’ve got to make plays behind them.”
The Cubs finished with a .979 fielding percentage, tied for last in the National League with the Marlins, Nationals and Pirates.
* Young catcher Welington Castillo will get a good look this spring. Quade was impressed by his defense last season. Castillo needs to learn more about the mental aspect of catching and handling pitchers.
* The only position players not in camp are Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Starlin Castro and Fukudome. Catcher Max Ramirez has been delayed because of visa problems but was expected Friday. The first full squad workout is scheduled for Saturday.
* The Cubs didn’t waste any time getting pitcher Robert Coello some work. The right-hander, acquired from the Red Sox, threw a side session on Thursday.
– Carrie Muskat
2/5 Caribbean series update
Cubs prospect Lou Montanez went 2-for-4, including an RBI single in the seventh, in Puerto Rico’s 4-3 loss Friday to the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Series. The Dominican rallied to score three runs in the ninth for the win. Welington Castillo struck out to start the ninth, but the next two batters walked and both scored on Esteban German’s triple. German then scored on a ground out. In the other game, Mexico beat Venezuela, 7-3.
On Saturday, Mexico (2-1) plays the Dominican Republic (2-1) and Puerto Rico (1-2) will play Venezuela (1-2).
– Carrie Muskat
2/4 Caribbean series update
Welington Castillo hit a RBI triple in the Dominican Republic’s 6-5 win over Venezuela in the Caribbean Series. Cubs prospect Eduardo Figueroa took the loss in relief. The game was tied at 3 when Figueroa took over on the mound in the fourth. He walked the first batter, then gave up a single to Ruddy Yan. Castillo sacrificed the runners over and Figueroa was pulled. Pitcher Jose Alvarez got one out, then gave up an RBI single that proved to be the game-winner. Castillo tripled with two outs in the second and tried to score on his hit but was out at home.
Lou Montanez was 1-for-5 and scored a run in Puerto Rico’s 7-3 win over Mexico. Cubs prospect Marco Carillo, who took the loss Wednesday, pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for Mexico.
– Carrie Muskat
12/20 Winter ball roundup
Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro went 1-for-4 with a walk in Escogido’s 8-7 win over Licey on Sunday. The shortstop is batting .286. Welington Castillo was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Brad Snyder 1-for-3 for Licey. The Dominican Winter League regular season ends Tuesday.
– Carrie Muskat
mlblogsmuskat1
Recent Comments