Kuzul

I know it’s early and a small sample size. But this shout out to Marlon Byrd goes beyond his early season statistics, which are pretty good by the way.

The man plays the game the right way. He seems to be a genuinely decent human being and a teammate who cares about winning.

In short, he is the opposite of the things many of us dislike about recent Cubs teams.

Sure, the fact that Byrd is hitting .341 with six homers and 24 RBI helps. But it’s the way he goes about his business that impresses a cynical, long-time Cubs fan such as myself.

Now, it shouldn’t be a revelation to have a player simply play the game the right way. They make big money, so we should expect it, right?

Well, consider how bad things have been for the Cubs.

Geo Soto finally shows up to camp in shape, but still goes on to provide fans with a suck-fest of a season thus far.

Milton Bradley is inexplicably given three guaranteed years at $30 million and decides he hates playing in Chicago. Apparently, Seattle isn’t much to his liking either.

Alfonso Soriano is paid a king’s ransom, then gets injured and perhaps just as bad, he hops at the plate and in the field. It’s cute when you’re a 40-40 guy—but when you can’t catch a fly ball, it gets old quickly.

Aramis Ramirez suddenly can’t hit or field yet says he doesn’t want or need help.

Carlos Zambrano blows up on and off the field and is currently a middle-relief staple.

So when you see a player like Byrd, you stand up and take notice.

He has never been a great player by any means, and he probably never will be. In fact, many consider him more of a role player.

In fact, 2009 was the first year that Marlon Byrd ever had 500 ABs in a season—or hit more than 10 home runs. He doesn’t steal bases, and has never appeared in the postseason, or been an All-Star.

But he seems to enjoy playing baseball and also seems to like being part of a team. After last season, those are two very welcome sights for Cubs fans.

Look, Byrd isn’t going to the Hall of Fame but he does deserve our appreciation.

And I just wanted to make sure you’ve heard about the Byrd. Everybody knows that the Byrd is the word.

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You know how they like to say that some players eat, drink and sleep baseball?

Well, it looks like Ken Griffey, Jr. took the sleeping part a bit too literally.

According to a report from the Tacoma News Tribune , Griffey missed an opportunity to pinch hit at a game last week because he was sleeping in the clubhouse.

So Junior was asleep at the wheel of the SS Mariner ship gone astray? More bad news in a season that, so far, has failed to live up to Seattle fans expectations.

Maybe it’s time to quit calling him “The Kid.” Griffey is, after all, 40-years-old. In fact, maybe it’s just time that he quit, period.

It’s always kind of sad when you see the great players not knowing when it’s time to say goodbye. Memories of an aging Willie Mays playing for the Mets as a shadow of his former self are painful. Likewise, watching Griffey was tough enough lately, and now this.

While wondering why they didn’t simply wake him up, this whole thing could have been avoided if players like Griffey knew when it was time to call it a career.

Well, easier said than done —it’s a difficult thing for a former star player to accept. All his life, he’s been told how great he was. Now he’s being told that he just can’t do it anymore.

The truth can be a wicked stepmother at times.

Griffey is batting .205/.265/.234 this season with only two extra-base hits and zero home runs for a last-place Mariners club that is in a tough position with a guy who started his career with the team, playing tremendously from 1989-1999.

It would be so much easier if he would retire. Instead, they may have to release him.

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu refused to divulge Griffey’s transgressions.

Look, I don’t care how great a player the man once was, you send a bad message to your players by covering up for him.  Meanwhile, the reason shouldn’t matter either. It was reported that a teammate claims that Griffey hasn’t been sleeping well at home.

Perhaps he has too much money stuffed under his mattress?

Griffey has made about $100 million in this game, so it certainly shouldn’t be money keeping him away from retirement.

As for the M’s, it’s hard to fathom why you would want a guy like him around at all. He’s not hitting and even his famed positive clubhouse persona has now taken a hit.

I mean, he’s not exactly setting a good example for the younger players, is he?

All good things come to an end, and the Griffey express seems to be at the end of the line. 

Someone please nudge him, so he doesn’t miss the last stop.

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Okay, it’s only one game. I get that.

And, as Cubs fans, we tend to go overboard in our hype of Cubs’ players, especially ones from our own farm system.

It is with this in mind that I cautiously state the following:

Retire his number now.

Look, just give Starlin Castro the Wayne Gretzky treatment and don’t make him wait the traditional five years.

Put the kid in the Hall of Fame now.

I’m joking, of course, but what a debut this 20-year-old shortstop phenom had last night! I know RBIs are overrated, but no rookie in the history of the major leagues had ever driven in six runs in his first game.

That’s right, I said “ever.” Let that soak in for a minute.

Not sure if you know this, but they’ve been playing this game for a long, long time, my friends.

Not bad for a kid that was playing Class “A” ball less than a year ago.

Meanwhile, it doesn’t really mean a thing in the long run, of course. Just like Mike Schmidt’s struggles as a rookie didn’t mean anything.

Still, it was fun to watch.

To say that Cubs fans needed this during such an early, yet dismal season so far, is akin to saying that it’s been awhile since the Cubs have won a title.

In other words, quite the understatement.

In case you missed it, or you happen to live under a rock, all the kid did was hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat.

It was all downhill from there.

But “downhill,” in this case, means adding a three-run triple in his third at-bat. 

Not bad, kid, but no homer? We’ll cut you some slack this time, but don’t let it happen again.

GM Jim Hendry told ESPN, “The kid gave us a spark. We really couldn’t have written the script any better than that for the young man. What a special night it must have been for him.”

Yep, you betcha, Jim. But what does the kid do for an encore? Find a cure for AIDS?

Well, I don’t know, but at least for one night, the kid was special, and what do you know, the Cubs won a ballgame.

In short, all is right with the universe.

While they are dancing in the streets of Monte Cristy, Dominican Republic, what expectations does this historic debut raise for Castro?

I say, who cares? Let’s just enjoy it and move on.

Even if the kid goes hitless tonight, we have ourselves the first homegrown middle infielder with star potential (no name-pun intended) since, well, I can’t even remember.

Ryne Sandberg came out of the Phillies’ system, so, um…Ernie Banks?

Anyway, Castro is the third rookie this year to homer in the first at-bat, an unusual stat itself. But he’s the first Cubs rookie to do so since 1992. And that was pitcher Jim Bullinger of all people.

Castro received a celebratory beer shower from his teammates after the game. Hope he didn’t drink any of it, as he isn’t even of legal drinking age.

And we all know none of us ever took a drink before we turned 21, right? Ahem.

In truth, this year’s Cubs team has driven us to drink, and drink heavily, I’m afraid.

Until Friday night, that is. No more crying in our beer…Starlin Castro is here!

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ESPN’s Enrique Rojas tweets that the Cubs have called up Starlin Castro. 

As I wrote in a recent article, my main concern with calling up this 20-year-old shortstop phenom is that the manager, Lou Piniella, will simply do to him what he’s done to Tyler Colvin.

That is, sit him on the bench.

Look, the only reason to bring Castro up is to play him every day as your starting shortstop.

Period. End of story.

But again, we all know that this is potentially Lou’s last season in Chicago so he tends to go with the hot hand.

What if Castro struggles?

And he will struggle, this much we know. Most rookies struggle. But you have to stay with them or demote them. Sitting on the bench does not help a young player develop.

Remember Mike Schmidt?

He hit below the Mendoza line his rookie season, but went on to have a pretty darn nice career.

And Ryne Sandberg?

He started his Cubs career by going 0-for-40 at the plate. How did that work out?

So, in a move that smacks of desperation, the Cubs call up their young star-in-the-making, hoping that he will be the savior for the 2010 season.

That’s a lot of pressure to put on a young kid.

I like Castro’s potential, and personally do not believe he will fail like so many other Cubs over-hyped rookies.

But I worry that the timing isn’t so good. He will add to what would already be tremendous pressure by joining a team that is in desperation mode.

Meanwhile, can he help Ramirez with his hitting? Hey, just asking. Perhaps an easier request would be world hunger.

Yet make no mistake, Castro is legitimate. But keep in mind how young and inexperienced he is.

So this moves Ryan Theriot to second base and either Chad Tracy, Jeff Baker, or Mike Fontenot potentially out the door.

Castro has above average range, a very strong arm, and hits for average. He doesn’t walk much (surprise, surprise) and hasn’t yet hit for power, but he is projected to eventually.

Just don’t expect too much right away, Cubs fans. And hey, that goes for you too, Lou.

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Look, it’s early but then again it’s not that early. We’re into May and the slash line from Aramis Ramirez looks like a pitcher’s (not named Zambrano): .149/.214/.267/.482.

Perhaps as troubling as his struggles at the plate is the word going around that Rami isn’t seeking help from Rudy Jaramillo. He apparently feels he is a professional hitter who can figure things out for himself.

If that’s true, then that mindset is stupid. I don’t care what you’ve accomplished in life, everyone needs help sometimes.

Lou Piniella says that he may move Ramirez down in the order and move Soriano up. Personally, I wouldn’t mess with the success that Sori is having right now, but I’m not the manager.

Meanwhile, Ramirez turns 32 in June and much has been written about his opt-out clause which he can exercise after the season. The thinking is that perhaps he’s putting too much pressure on himself.

Of course, we’ve routinely seen players often post career years with impending free agency, so I hardly think that is the main problem.  

I mean, if he stays with the Cubs, it’s not like his family will go hungry. This is a $14.6 million player option we’re talking about here. Since 2007, Ramirez has earned more than $53 million so money shouldn’t even be part of the discussion.

The other scenario is that his injuries are affecting his swing. Now, that one has more merit.

Ramirez says his shoulder is not bothering him, but keep in mind that surgery was recommended to fix that shoulder but he opted not to go that route.

And, he also had a right triceps injury which may be bothering him.

Well, whatever it is, he’d better figure it out because the Cubs need him. He’s not the only problem, of course, but returning to his old self would certainly help.

Last night the Cubs problems with runners in scoring position continued as they left 12 men on base. You see the high batting averages on many of these guys, but producing with runners on continues to be a problem from last year.

Hey Aramis, es cinco de mayo; es hora de ponerse en marcha.

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Hello, Jason Heyward, so nice to meet you. But as good as you are already, and as great as you’re going to be, you’re not alone. For major league baseball has more of you on the way.

As a baseball fan, I can’t wait!

So let’s take a walk through baseball’s current and next great young players, in no particular order, and see what we have in store for us as fans of this great sport.

We all know that Joe Mauer, Tim Lincecum and Evan Longoria are still young, but they are considered too “established” for the purposes of this article.

Meanwhile, these are all major league ready players who have already burst on the scene or will very soon. And they are real – they are not likely to be one-hit wonders in my opinion.

To keep things equal and fair, I picked five players from each league (not including Heyward, who is a no-brainer).

Keep in mind that while there are plenty of terrific young players these are guys who, in my estimation, have “star” potential.

Ready? Let’s go!

Begin Slideshow