Chicago Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro told a Dominican radio station that he plans to play in his native Dominican Republic’s professional baseball league (Dominican Winter League, as you may know it) soon. Play ends Thursday, January 17 – the day before the Cubs Convention begins – so Castro will have to hurry if he wants to get a few games in.
Of course, Castro will have to convince Cubs management that it’s a good idea to let him play for just a few games after not having played since the first week of October. Presumably Castro’s been keeping himself in baseball shape, so I doubt it would be a huge issue. Still, any extra ball for a franchise piece makes you slightly nervous. And, if this is a precursor to Castro wanting to play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic this Spring, you might get slightly more nervous (even if you think it’s cool).
Obviously Castro rarely gets the opportunity to play in front of his home country fans – and probably much of his family and friends, too – so I can certainly understand his desire to play a bit. Castro, if he’s permitted to play, will be playing for the Escogido Liones, for which Lendy Castillo already plays.