Castillo Busts Out

Jose Castillo's seventh inning home run against the Rockies yesterday was significant not only because it gave the Giants a 3-2 lead which they would hang onto to win the series. It was also Castillo's first home run since August 14, 2006, a span of 450 at-bats. He hit 14 home runs that year with Pittsburgh, so he's not exactly Juan Pierre. But last year he went homerless in 221 at-bats before being let go. Castillo's only hitting .222 with a .280 on-base percentage, but he already has more walks (8) than he did all of last year (6), which suggests that maybe he's changed his approach. We're also only paying $650,000, compared to the $3 million the Phillies are giving Pedro Feliz, and we didn't have to give up any pitching to get him. No one's calling him the third basemen of the future, but he's been a tolerable replacement with Kevin Frandsen out for the year.