Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The rest of this season could be either painful or exciting for Houston Astros fans. Really it all depends on how you look at it. A realistic fan knew going into this season that they would lose a lot of games but it is still exciting to see this franchise find itself through the challenges of one more bad record. Everything is coming together for a march towards the direction of success starting next season. One main area of solid performance leading into that journey is catcher Jason Castro.
Castro might not be mentioned in the same breath as Yadier Molina right now but he has that potential. He is still very young after all and is just about to march into his prime. Defensively he is solid and knows enough about the league now to really call a good game. That all gets better with time of course and with each season Castro just gets a little bit better. Especially with a good bunch of young pitchers on the staff for the foreseeable future, the catcher of this team will be crucial.
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Even if he walked up to the plate without a bat, Castro’s role on this team would be huge. They need a leader on the field and with inexperience everywhere you look, Castro has to be the one to provide it. That’s true not just because he is in the catcher’s position but also because he has the ability. Even Max Stassi, the young double-A catcher they just called up is talking about learning a lot from watching Castro. Castro hasn’t been around forever and he already has the respect of his peers.
The Astros will be there next year. They’ll at least be in the wildcard picture for a while. A big reason for that will be the play and leadership of Castro who will be one of the MVP’s of this team for the next five plus seasons. He is as perfect for that spot as Jose Altuve is for second base. We’ll have to see how it all works out next year.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
