In his 2005 Baseball Forecaster book, Ron Shandler provides some unusual information about player performance. With Jose Castillo, for example, we learn that 59% of his balls in play were groundballs. The league average is about 45%. That's a huge difference - about 33%. 16% of Castillo's hit balls were line drives, below the 19% league average. 24% were fly balls (compared to the average of 36%). Shandler or one of his writers comments that he "hammers ball into ground regularly but mediocre speed doesn't turn them into hits."
Line drives are the best things to hit - short of fly balls with enough distance to leave most parks - so a key to Castillo's growth as a hitter may be getting him to hit more line drives and fewer ground balls.
Last August we heard a lot about the leg kick that they asked him to use. And, after a three-week slump (or so; this is from memory), he seemed to get the hang of it before looking very tired and ready to call it a season.
Did Castillo use this leg kick in winter ball? If not, what, if anything, did he change in his approach at the plate? Supposedly, he hit well and for power down there.
Finally, did this leg kick - a "timing" thing I believe it was explained - have anything to do with this inability to get on or under pitches?
And what other smart things can you tell me about Castillo's development as a hitter? This inquiring mind wants to know.
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