Starlin Castro, Miami Marlins
By all metrics, Castro endured a horrific first half. Through 371 plate appearances, the veteran infielder struggled to a .245/.272/.336 triple slash, leading to a .091 ISO and a 60 wRC+. Among qualified hitters, only Rougned Odor (59) had a lower wRC+ than Castro heading into the All-Star break.
But after taking a quick breather, the 29-year-old recovered by posting a 129 wRC+ and .256 ISO over his final 305 plate appearances. This performance included 16 homers, which allowed him to finish the year with a career-high 22 dingers.
Castro’s quality-of-contact remained consistently good between both halves, but he cut his ground-ball rate by nearly 10 percentage points while also increasing his line-drive rate and fly-ball rate (along with decreasing his infield-fly rate). His monthly progression makes it look as if he went through two very different seasons. Here’s how his monthly wRC+ changed since March/April: 73, 23, 49, 120, 134, 146. Upon hitting that low point in May, he at least kept improving from there.
The Marlins aren’t likely to exercise Castro’s $16 million option for 2020, but that second-half surge may have saved him from being jobless heading into next season.
About Matt Musico
Matt Musico currently manages Chin Music Baseball and contributes to The Sports Daily. His past work has been featured at numberFire, Yahoo! Sports and Bleacher Report. He’s also written a book and created an online class about how to get started as a sports blogger. Check those out and more helpful tips on sports blogging at his website.
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