Shortstop Finally Locked Down on the North Side

Starlin Castro appears to be the shortstop that the Cubs have been searching for. The 21-year old second year pro, in his first full season, is still going through some growing pains defensively but has stayed consistent at the plate. Shortstop is a very important position for a good club. They Cubs have had a revolving door there as of late. Let us take a look at the Cubs shortstops of recent years and see how they fared compared to Castro's stats.

• 2010-2011- Starlin Castro, .308 AVG


• 2009- Ryan Theriot, .284 AVG


• 2008- Theriot, .307 AVG


• 2007- Theriot, .266 AVG


• Backup/ sometimes starter '05-'08- Ronny Cedeno: .243 career hitter


• 2006- Cesar Izturis, .246 AVG


• 2005- Nomar Garciaparra, .283 AVG


• 2004- Alex S. Gonzalez- .217 AVG


• 2003- Alex S. Gonzalez- .228 AVG

The point being, Castro has a chance to be the best Cubs shortstop since Ernie Banks. The Cubs middle infield of Castro and Darwin Barney is something that you could build a team around. Potentially, here is what the Cubs lineup could look like in 2013.

• 1. Tony Campana, CF


• 2. Darwin Barney, 2B


• 3. Starlin Castro, SS


• 4. Brett Jackson, RF


• 5. Geovany Soto, C


• 6. Josh Vitters, 3B


• 7. Alfonso Soriano, LF


• 8. Free Agent Signing, 1B

The pitching staff-

1. Andrew Cashner

2. Chris Carpenter

3. Jay Jackson

4. Randy Wells

5. Matt Garza

Closer: Carlos Marmol

Can this team win? The Cubsh have shortstop and second base figured out long term, now they just need to develop pitching and more hitters!