It’s difficult to envision Starlin Castro in the Baseball Hall of Fame someday. Just visiting? Sure! But he would never be inducted as one of the game’s immortals...right?
Castro has earned four MLB All-Star selections already, and is emerging as a darkhorse candidate for inclusion yet again this season. The 28-year-old enters Monday batting .315/.364/.395 (113 wRC+), a participant in every Marlins game thus far. He ranks sixth among NL second basemen with 0.7 fWAR, on pace for what would be a career-best 3.4 fWAR.
And therein lies the problem: Castro has never been an elite player.