With Starlin Castro traded to the Yankees, where does he stand among the all-time Chicago Cubs greats? Starlin played six seasons for the Cubs. His 3,524 at bats places him 28th among all Cubs. Therefore, we can use that 28th ranking as a benchmark for his other stats. Anything above 28 would be above what is expected. Anything below 28 would be worse.
Rank:
- 11th: Ground into double plays
- 15th: Strikeouts
- 19th: Caught stealing
- 22nd: Sacrifice flies
- 22nd: Hit by pitch
- 26th: Doubles
28th: At bats
- 29th: Hits
- 29th: Singles
- 32nd: Stolen bases
- 38th: Games
- 39th: Homeruns
- 41st: Triples
- 42nd: RBI
- 48th: Runs
- 71st: Walks
- 394th: Sacrifice hits
While I’m sad to see the era of Starlin Castro end with the Cubs, he didn’t exactly perform all that great. Castro’s three highest rankings are for ground into double plays, strikeouts, and caught stealing.
He does a smidge better with doubles. His hits and singles are pretty much where they should be for his 28th position in at bats. Then the other offensive stats rather fall down after that.
End result? Castro should be a top-30 Cubs based on the number of his at bats; however, we should remember Starlin Castro as a top-40 Cub. That’s actually quite good for his six seasons aged 20 to 25. We wish Starlin the best of luck with the Yankees. I hope he can end up ranking among the all-time Yankee greats (I say that with a tongue in cheek). As Bleed Cubbie Blue points out, “one thing he’ll have to change with the Yankees is his uniform number. No. 13 is taken — by Alex Rodriguez.”
To be fair with Castro on the SO, GiDP, and Caught Stealing; most modern-day players rank high in those areas. Comparatively you have old-timers that never struck out. Guys with names you never heard of like, like Eddie Zeb Terry and Doc Casey. They stack the Cubs ranking for least strikeouts.
Take a player’s at bat ranking subtract it from their strikeout ranking. Castro’s at bat ranking is 28. His strikeout ranking is 15. That gives him a -13.
Beloved Cubs AB/SO ranking worse than Castro are:
- Geovany Soto -51
- Kosuke Fukudome -42
- Rick Monday -37
- Ron Cey -36
- Jody Davis -22
- Derrek Lee -21
- Joe Girardi -19
- Randy Hundley -19
No surprises:
- Jose Hernandez -59
- Corey Patterson -44
- Anthony Rizzo -36
- Alfonso Soriano -26
But check out how some of the Cubs classics did:
- Stan Hack 19
- Mark Grace 12
- Ernie Banks 3
- Billy Williams 3
- Ryne Sandberg 0
- Gabby Hartnett 0
- Ron Santo -2
- Sammy Sosa -6
These are the guys you want to rank up against. And check out Sosa! Sure he’s #1 all-time in strikeouts with the Cubs. But he’s also #7 in at bats. And then some of the Cubs had totally amazing AB/SO ranking ratio:
- Bill Madlock 136
- Bill Buckner 122
- Larry Bowa 118
- Glenn Beckert 62
- Bob Dernier 44
For those curious, here are the top 50 Cubs with the most at-bats:
- Ernie Banks (1953-1971) 9421 at bats
- Billy Williams (1959-1974) 8479
- Ryne Sandberg (1982-1997) 8379
- Ron Santo (1960-1973) 7768
- Stan Hack (1932-1947) 7278
- Mark Grace (1988-2000) 7156
- Sammy Sosa (1992-2004) 6990
- Phil Cavarretta (1934-1953) 6592
- Don Kessinger (1964-1975) 6355
- Gabby Hartnett (1922-1940) 6282
- Frank Schulte (1904-1916) 5837
- Joe Tinker (1902-1916) 5554
- Billy Herman (1931-1941) 5532
- Glenn Beckert (1965-1973) 5020
- Charlie Grimm (1925-1936) 4917
- Johnny Evers (1902-1913) 4858
- Bill Nicholson (1939-1948) 4857
- Shawon Dunston (1985-1997) 4570
- Woody English (1927-1936) 4296
- Aramis Ramirez (2003-2011) 4232
- Bill Buckner (1977-1984) 3788
- Frank Chance (1901-1912) 3787
- Kiki Cuyler (1928-1935) 3687
- Heinie Zimmerman (1907-1916) 3661
- Billy Jurges (1931-1947) 3658
- Andy Pafko (1943-1951) 3567
- Jimmy Sheckard (1906-1912) 3530
- Starlin Castro (2010-2015) 3524
- Derrek Lee (2004-2010) 3514
- Johnny Kling (1901-1911) 3493
- Riggs Stephenson (1926-1934) 3474
- Alfonso Soriano (2007-2013) 3403
- Jimmy Slagle (1902-1908) 3394
- Jody Davis (1981-1988) 3318
- Augie Galan (1934-1941) 3297
- Andre Dawson (1987-1992) 3262
- Keith Moreland (1982-1987) 3240
- Leon Durham (1981-1988) 3215
- Hank Sauer (1949-1955) 3165
- Randy Hundley (1966-1977) 3158
- Hack Wilson (1926-1931) 3154
- Dee Fondy (1951-1957) 3055
- Solly Hofman (1904-1916) 3046
- Max Flack (1916-1922) 3005
- Charlie Hollocher (1918-1924) 2936
- Jose Cardenal (1972-1977) 2918
- Ivan de Jesus (1977-1981) 2900
- Vic Saier (1911-1917) 2782
- Manny Trillo (1975-1988) 2713 (yes, Manny Trillo is on this list!)
- Sparky Adams (1922-1927) 2671
Where would you rank Starlin Castro among the all-time Cubs? Please leave your thoughts on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below.