Reds should DFA Castro, call up Keppinger

[mbgrayson]

Juan Castro continues to be a major drag on the Reds offense. He is now hitting a miserable .169/.193/.229 for an OPS of .422!. He has struck out 21 out of 83 at bats(25%), and has walked 3 times all year. He also doesn’t see very many pitches per plate appearance, averaging 3.44 this year, among the lowest in MLB (http://rluzinski.blogspot.com/2007/06/pitches-per-plate-appearance.html (http://rluzinski.blogspot.com/2007/06/pitches-per-plate-appearance.html)) .

With RISP, his numbers drop to .087/.148/.130! An OPS with RISP of .278!!

I realize he is supposed to be a defensive whiz….and I agree he is fairly solid at shortstop. But all year he has a total of 34 fielding chances at short….and been part of 4 double plays. At second base, Castro has 2 errors in 13 fielding chances. At 3rd he has 1 error in 17 chances. Overall, basically half way through the year, Castro has a total of 64 fielding chances and has made 3 errors….not exactly gold glove material.

Keppinger has mainly been a 2nd baseman in pro ball. He has played some third also. However, in high school and college he played shortstop. See this (http://mets.scout.com/2/480427.html)interesting interview (http://mets.scout.com/2/480427.html)with Keppinger.

In Louisville, Keppinger has been great at getting on base. He is hitting .363/.417/.471 in slightly over 200 ABs. He has 12 Ks, and 20 BBs. He was named to the AAA all-star team last week. He has had 2.5 times as many at bats in AAA as Castro has in MLB, and has far fewer Ks, and 7 times more walks.

Castro is now 35, and going nowhere, Keppinger is 27, and could be a useful player for several years to come. Given that this season is basically lost, why not chop some dead wood and bring up guy who could be a part of the puzzle next year? Some say that we are paying Castro too much money to DFA him. Well either we pay him, and have him take up a valuable roster spot with terrible results, or we pay him and let Keppinger move up to get more MLB experience for next year.

If we need to give Alex Gonzalez a day off, either Keppinger could do it, or Brandon Phillips could slide over for the day. Soon I expect Ryan Freel will return, and he can also fill-in at short.

The Reds simply cannot afford to continue to carry Juan Castro.

[Degenerate39]

I didn't notice the should and my heart skipped a few beats.

[captainmorgan07]

me 2 degenerate don't feel bad

[REDSEER]

Soon I expect Ryan Freel will return, and he can also fill-in at short.

That really scares me....I hope we don't have to resort to Freel at short.

He scares me enough at 2nd and 3rd......he does a great job of filling in where he's needed, but he just isn't a natural infielder, IMO.

As for Castro and Keppinger, I couldn't agree more....although I think we should wait until after the all-star break in MLB and AAA, just to reward Keppinger for his great hitting early in the season. I have a feeling that we are going to see a shake up after the break, and players like Gardner, Votto, and Keppinger are going to get their chances at the end of the year, just like Hopper and Denorfia got their chances at the end of last year.

[mole44]

The reds should be doing a lot of things..don't hold your breath

[AmarilloRed]

I noticed when Keppinger was brought up, he didn't exactly set the world on fire. He could be another AAAA player like Denorfia. He could have great numbers at AAA , but fail to hit in the majors.

[mbgrayson]

I noticed when Keppinger was brought up, he didn't exactly set the world on fire. He could be another AAAA player like Denorfia. He could have great numbers at AAA , but fail to hit in the majors.

Could be....but it's hard to imagine him playing worse than Juan Castro is. (Juan hit into another doubleplay pinch hitting Saturday night, in case you missed it....) We will never know about Keppinger until we try him in Cincinnati. We do know for sure that Juan Castro is done....put a fork in him.

In parts of 3 MLB seasons, Keppinger is hitting .277/.320/.380. The bulk of those at bats were in 2004 with the Mets at age 24. Full stats here (http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=3856&position=3B)....He is 2 for 8 with a walk and 2 runs scored this year with the Reds.

One other note, he leads the International League in batting average right now.... by 22 points! See HERE (http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=l_bat&lid=117).

[reds44]

Could be....but it's hard to imagine him playing worse than Juan Castro is. (Juan hit into another doubleplay pinch hitting Saturday night, in case you missed it....) We will never know about Keppinger until we try him in Cincinnati. We do know for sure that Juan Castro is done....put a fork in him.

In parts of 3 MLB seasons, Keppinger is hitting .277/.320/.380. The bulk of those at bats were in 2004 with the Mets at age 24. Full stats here (http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=3856&position=3B)....He is 2 for 8 with a walk and 2 runs scored this year with the Reds.

One other note, he leads the International League in batting average right now.... by 22 points! See HERE (http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=l_bat&lid=117).
It's hard for anyone to be worse then Juan Castro. The question is, can Keppinger play SS? Castro is the backup SS, and the only on that can really play short. Pedro Lopez would be a better option then Castro too. Unlike Keppinger, he is a SS.

Keppinger has the ability to play 3B, 2B, 1B, LF, and RF (and maybe SS?), and he has torn up AAA pitching. You think his versatility alone that would allow him to stick in the majors, yet the Reds are now the 3rd or 4th organization that hasn't seen it that way.

[donnelly_31]

No way the Reds drop Castro (or Moeller for that matter) until Narron goes. Narron has a man crush on both players. Why else do you carry 3 catchers when Moeller couldn't put up any stats even in AAA? Why else when you have the option of letting Hamilton hit do you put in Castro's worthless bat?

[AmarilloRed]

It may be that Narron will be fired on Monday. If that happens, both players could be gone and Keppinger will be up to the big club. I hope Keppinger can make it at the big-league level, but I fear he won't.

[spartcock77]

We should but seeing as how we have managed most of the season then it probably wont happen

[Vada Pinson Fan]

mbgrayson - I agree with you on replacing Castro with Keppinger! Castro is so one-dimensional. The Reds can't have players like Castro on their team. The Reds must find multi-talented players that are above average at the very least in all phases of the game. Don't bring them in unless they fit the bill.