Why didn’t the Cubs call him up sooner.

The hysteria over Cubs rookie shortstop Starlin Castro got a jump start last night as he hit a three-run home run in his very first major league at-bat.  The opposite field shot came on a looping curving ball from Reds pitcher Homer Bailey. 

Later in the game, Castro came to the plate with the bases loaded and drove in three runs with a triple to left center field.  He ended the game with six RBI, a major league record.  That’s one game, one record set.  My gosh, what can’t this kid do?

Despite his fantastic start, there are still those in the blogosphere who believe that the Cubs are making a mistake by bringing him up to the big leagues too soon.  They feel the move will stunt the 20-year old’s growth.  They point to the fact that Castro jumped over AAA as proof that the Cubs are desperate and are sacrificing Castro in the process.  They also complain that, although the Cubs have waited long enough to promote Castro to postpone his free agency status for another year, he will likely qualify for Super Two status if he remains in the big leagues for the rest of the year.

I don’t know if Castro is ready for big league baseball.  I don’t think anyone knows for sure.  But at some point, the Cubs have to find out.  He’s been tearing up AA pitching, so why not give him a shot at big league pitching?

Sure, he’s only 20-years old, but he has a mature approach to the game and the Cubs believe he is ready for the big stage.  Plus, Ozzie Smith was only 19 when he hit the big leagues.  It would be horrible for Castro to have a similar career (at least with the glove).

Also, jumping over AAA is not unheard of.  The better players often jump from AA to the big leagues.  Triple-A is a good place to sand off the rough edges, but it’s not a necessary step in a baseball player’s career.

The argument concerning Super Two status is by far the weakest argument the naysayers have.  The short counter-argument is, who cares?  It may cost the Cubs a little more a little sooner, but the amount in the whole scheme of things is negligible. 

In case you weren’t aware of this, Mike Fontenot qualified for Super Two status this past year.  If the Cubs can drop a little extra money for the privlege of having Fontenot in the big leagues, certainly they can spend the money to have Castro on the big team sooner rather than later.

To make the Super Two status argument even weaker, there have been rumors that the “Super Two” concept is going to be done away with in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Players Association.  So why worry about something that may not even exist in a couple of years?

Finally, by bringing Castro up to the big leagues early, he was unable to accrue much minor league service time.  That may not seem important at first glance, but it does give Castro four minor league options rather than the more normal three.  So if Castro struggles early in his career, the Cubs can return him to the minors without having to be too concerned about him running out of options.

It will be interesting to see how the Chicago media handles Castro’s ascendency into stardom.  I was in Atlanta earlier this year to see the media there fall all over themselves to illustrate the force of nature that is Jason Heyward.  After just two major league games, Heyward was being compared to Ken Griffey, Jr.  And it was pointed out by the talking heads that Heyward actually was having a better career than Griffey had at a similar point in his career.  I kid you not.

So, all hail Starlin Castro.  He is the greatest rookie to come along for the Cubs since the great Tuffy Rhodes.