José Castro’s skilled baseball profession included three seasons within the Chicago White Sox farm system. He performed all 4 infield positions and the outfield within the group from 1982-85.
Castro is again, having joined the Sox as their new hitting coach in November.
“It’s awesome, man,” Castro stated final week. “This is the best recreation on the earth for me, and my final yr right here with the White Sox was 1985.
“To come back here 38 years later — the same year that I married, and still married to a wonderful lady, my best friend (Lisa) — I’m getting goosebumps right now thinking about it.”
Castro, 64, spent the final eight seasons (2015-22) because the Atlanta Braves assistant hitting coach, serving to them win the World Series in 2021.
His big-league teaching expertise additionally consists of serving as high quality assurance coach for the Cubs in 2014. He was the Seattle Mariners interim hitting coach in 2008.
After 14 seasons enjoying within the minors, Castro turned to teaching. He spent 24 seasons as a minor-league hitting teacher for the Montreal Expos (1990-91, 2002-03), Florida Marlins (1992-2001), San Diego Padres (2003-07) and Mariners (2008-13).
“He was with me in Seattle and he was my bench coach in Venezuela. I know him extremely well,” Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol stated Saturday.
Castro had varied roles within the Mariners group from 2000-12 and managed within the Venezuelan winter league from 2010-13.
“He’s a good friend as well,” Grifol stated. “I belief him. He’s within the cage. He’s doing his factor. We mapped out our plan, and the nice factor is that adaptability is a part of his DNA.
“If you aren’t capable of adapt, you aren’t going to have success. That’s his largest attribute. He’s a wise hitting man and has been doing this for a very long time, however his capability to adapt to completely different personalities and to adapt to recreation conditions, he’s probably the greatest on the market doing that.
“I don’t even think about him too much, to be honest with you. I know he’s doing his job.”
Castro went proper to work after getting the place.
“Watching video, talking to them in the winter, texting back and forth,” he stated. “They would send videos in. It’s been an easy transition because of the type of players we have here. Everyone wants to do well in any business. It’s working well right now.”
In basic, Castro stated the objective is for Sox hitters to be “aggressive in the strike zone.”
“Everybody is working toward that, all 30 teams, I guess,” Castro stated. “Our plan and approach is based on the fastball, working the middle of the field and letting it go where it goes. Not trying to guide anything anywhere, just put your swing out there and be consistent with the approach and the plan.”
One space the Sox have emphasised this spring is situational hitting.
“Situational hitting is a part of who we are,” Grifol stated. “We’ve obtained some guys that may hit for lots of energy. Everybody is aware of that. However, we do should play in April. In April, the climate hurts the offense a bit of bit. And we’ve obtained to learn to win these video games.
“We’ve got to learn how to win tight games: 2-1, 3-2. Obviously as you move forward throughout the season, your bats are not always going to be there. The situational hitting is a part of who we are and we’ve got to run produce and that’s just a part of our game. I’m looking forward to seeing that become a part of our identity as well.”
The Sox are incorporating that mindset into a few of their drills.
“That’s going to be big for us this year,” Castro stated of situational hitting. “Pedro stresses that quite a bit. I actually imagine in it. With no shift now, there’s extra time for that.
“So, yeah, we’re on it. We’re having a good time with it, getting guys sort of ramped up.”
Castro is having fun with all the course of.
“It just takes a little time,” he stated of speaking by way of changes. “You get to know the guys, watching video and going through the whole deal. The trust part of it is tweaking here and there and making sure everyone is on the same page.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com