Radio Recaps: Stone & Holly on 670 the Score

Steve Stone on Boers & Bernstein to talk Castro

• In the short term, Castro is a very promising young player.
• Stone saw him in the Arizona Fall League and noticed his hand-eye coordination.
• He puts a lot of "pitchers' pitches" in play.
• The one thing that baffles Steve about this is that Ryan Theriot and Castro did not work together as a double play combo in Spring Training.
• Ryan had not played second base in some time.
• The Cubs have 11 stolen bases as a team, while Juan Pierre has 15 by himself. The Cubs have a slow team. When you go to big ballparks or the wind blows in at Wrigley, you cannot win without speed.
• Barry does not think this timing makes any sense. Steve says that the Cubs didn't want to bring him up this early, but there are some things that are difficult to explain with this team.
• The Cubs continue to stock their lineup with right handed hitters.
• A five man rotation in a Major League Baseball outfield does not work.
• Sitting Colvin on the bench is not doing him a lot of good.
• With Gorzelanny throwing the ball very well, Carlos Zambrano may not have a chance to move back into the starting five.
• Randy Wells admits that he was goofing around with Geovany Soto in the bullpen before the game. Steve's question is, "Where was Larry Rothschild?"
• Losing three games to the Pirates just doesn't look good.
• Lou Piniella has only one thing in mind for the Cubs, winning games.
• Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker do not have much value on the trade market.
• Ryan Theriot is a guy you want to keep.
• If you could move Aramis Ramirez, Stoney believes you should do so.
• The Cubs are very limited as to who they can trade and when you can trade them. They will have to eat a lot of money to dump so big players.
• A guy who can only play second is not very valuable if he is not starting (Fontenot).
• Carlos Zambrano's bat is not a factor in the decision to move him to the bullpen.

Todd Hollandsworth on the Danny Mac Show to give his take on Castro

• Todd thinks that Aramis Ramirez's problems are mental. Rami's body language is just awful right now.
• Ramirez looks defeated and unsure of himself. He is "out and around" everything at the plate, meaning that he's trying to crush the ball.
• The best action for Lou Piniella might be to sit Ramirez down for awhile.
• Todd is seeing a guy who's trying to get it all back with one swing. A couple days off to clean his head and refresh his mind might be the right thing for Ramirez.
• Mike Fontenot has been "solid enough" this season. The starting pitching has been pretty good, Soto is off to a good start, Soriano has gotten his act together, Theriot is hitting well, but they are still losing.
• Hollandsworth is looking for a "spark plug" or "lighting in a bottle". Starlin Castro could be that guy who shakes things up.
• They have a veteran team, but something is missing.
• Moving Zambrano to the 8th inning was a "wow factor".
• Todd doesn't want to put the word "critical" on any game. As a player, you have to look at everyday as an opportunity to beat the opponent.
• The Cubs are certainly not out of it, but they need a spark.
• They do not have much flexibility with their roster because they do not have a lot of guys who can be sent down to AAA.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!