NL Central

We’ve some some pretty horrific Albert Pujols memorabilia in our storied history of St. Louis fan hunting.

Large in part, this fanatical abhorrence is gender-biased.  Outside of a few pink jerseys here and there, our studies show that female Pujols fans tend to stay within traditional affection mechanisms.

That is, until we saw this…

(Hat Tip to Jason for the fan pic)

On July 22, 2009 the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Adam LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox, opening up the first base position. The next day they called up Steve Pearce and on the 29th they traded Ian Snell and Jack Wilson to the Seattle Mariners for Jeff Clement and Ronny Cedeno, creating a competition at first between the two college superstars.

The most impressive play, or non-play, of the Mother's Day game at Great American Ball Park came immediately after Cincinnati Reds' rookie sensation, Mike Leake allowed his first legitimate hit in the top of the seventh—a two-out double to Cubs' outfielder Marlon Byrd.

After pitching hitless baseball through the front five, Leake gave up an infield single.  If the official score keeper were a cool dude or dudette they would have ruled it an error.  In reality, the hot grounder off the bat of Starlin Castro was a single.

You look at the Cubs' record, and you can't help but grimace. Their record, 14-17, is right in line with their Pythagorean Record, 15-16. The Cubs struggle somewhat in one-run games, going 3-6 in such contests.

The Cubs struggle mightily on the road, going 7-11 on road games, as opposed to 7-6 at Wrigley.

Let's gander at their pitching.

The Cubs are actually pitching very well. They are first in the league in strike-outs per walk, and boast the best Contact Percentage.

Starlin Castro had Chicago Cubs' fans licking their chops since they first caught wind of his Arizona Fall League performance and while they watched his spring training. The newly turned 20-year old Dominican made his major league debut on Friday night. 

To say he did not disappoint would be like saying Cubs' uniforms aren't blue.

The wunderkind joined the exclusive club of 104 others by popping a shot over the wall off of his new best friend, Homer Bailey, in his first major at-bat.  

At seven o’ clock this morning, Chicago Cubs top prospect Starlin Castro , a 20-year-old shortstop, received a call from the big club. His baseball life was about to change, and his dream was about to come true. He was told to travel to Cincinnati, where Chicago were to take on the Reds that afternoon, and did so giddily to find out he was in the starting lineup batting eighth.

Finally, it appears that the Chicago Cubs are willing to show some backbone in the dugout after the promotion of Class AA shortstop Starlin Castro to the Major League roster. Castro made his highly anticipated MLB debut on Friday—after a series sweep by the Pirates left the rotation gasping for run support. 

For the first time in four years, Ryan Theriot was moved over to second base to supplement the promotion of Castro. 

When the Chicago Cubs called up 20-year-old shortstop Starlin Castro from Double-A Tennessee early yesterday afternoon, many had their doubts as to whether or not the Cubs were making the right move.

It took about 45 minutes into his major league debut to erase any doubts that the Cubs made the right move.

In his first major league at-bat, Castro took a hanging curveball from Cincinnati Reds’ starter Homer Bailey and deposited it into the right field stands for his first major league hit and obviously his first major league home run.

The biggest news so far today is the Cubs’ decision to call up 20-year-old Dominican shortstop Starlin Castro all the way from AA ball. 

Castro was hitting a robust .376 with a .990 OPS for the Tennessee Smokies in the Southern League, but that’s a long way from the Show.

Castro is one of the more highly regarded prospects in baseball (Baseball America ranked him 16th among all prospects before the start of this season), and players his age sometimes progress very quickly.

The "stuff" has hit the fan for the Chicago Cubs.

In breaking news late Friday morning, the Cubs have recalled their top prospect, 20-year-old Starlin Castro. Castro will reportedly bat eighth in the Cubs lineup and start at shortstop, moving Ryan Theriot to second base, as the Cubs face the Reds in Cincinnati at 7:10 pm EST.

If you haven't heard of Starlin Castro, here's your introduction.