Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » Luis Castillo

October Seems to Be More About Scapegoats Than Heroes

Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

On Wednesday Evan Longoria hit two home runs, including a game winner, to lead Tampa Bay to an improbable victory over the Yankees after trailing 7-0. That victory, coupled with a Boston defeat in Baltimore, completed an unlikely Wild Card run by Joe Maddon’s Rays. The Cardinals defeated the Astros, while Atlanta lost to Philadelphia, which resulted in […]

CC Joining the Red Sox, Evaluating Niese, Joe Torre Loves OTB, Underrated Byrdak

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

The Yankees and Red Sox went to battle over Mark Teixeira in the winter of 2008. Could they be headed for another one-on-one rematch for CC Sabathia this offseason? Many believe Sabathia returning to the Bronx is a fait accompli. He loves the city, has a beautiful home that was featured in Architectural Digest, and has the Yankees limitless funds to […]

Morning Digest: Classic Subway Series Ending Edition

Monday, July 4th, 2011

Just when you want to see the Subway Series go into the history books for good, you get a weekend like this. Yankees fans invaded Citi Field and gave the Stadium some buzz, and Mets ownership much needed cash. You heard complaints about the Great Wall of Flushing, umpires, and start times. I complain about […]

Will DiMaggio’s Streak Ever Be Broken?

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Kostya Kennedy, author of the new Joe DiMaggio book “56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports,” joined me on last night’s radio show. When discussing the project we talked about how this record has withstood the test of baseball time. Despite different eras of offense, performance enhancing drugs, expansion, and even the […]

Los Mets Are Gone- Can the Fans Move Forward?

Monday, March 21st, 2011

The Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez story line is finally over. On Saturday night I tuned into WFAN’s Steve Somers in the car and heard a caller refer to releasing Perez and Castillo as the end of the “Los Mets era.” Obviously, this was a statement that was leaning towards the type of behavior ridiculously […]

NYBD on WGBB at 10 pm

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

Check out the second hour of radio live from the studios of 1240 AM WGBB Shaun Clancy, owner of Foley Pub and Restaurant will talk about the 2011 inductees into the Irish American Hall of Fame. Steve Popper, Mets beat writer for the Bergen Record, discusses the latest from Port St. Lucie. We will talk […]

On Castillo: You Don’t Bet with a Pair of Twos

Friday, March 18th, 2011

Look, it is easy to take today’s move by the Mets to release Luis Castillo in two ways. One is to somehow blame him for his injuries and diminishing performance, ignore how hard he worked to stay on the field as much as he did, and assume everything will be better once he is gone. […]

Why Defense at 2b Is Important

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Terry Collins was on WFAN earlier this week talking about his starting staff. He mentioned how it’s a group that throws strikes, and if the defense catches the ball the Mets should be competitive. Remembering that quote gives me reason to believe that defense will trump offense at second base, thus giving Luis Hernandez a […]

Is Luis Hernandez Sneaking in the Competition?

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

John Harper looks at the still muddled second base situation in today’s Daily News. Earlier in camp I said on the radio program Luis Castillo might still have a shot to win the second base competition. Although Daniel Murphy, Brad Emaus, and Justin Turner all have better offensive potential, Castillo might be the only one […]

Grapefruit Roundup Tonight at 8pm

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

We finally have some spring baseball games to talk about. I will kick off the show talking about the Yankees. Joining me will be Steve S of the Yankee Analysts as we discuss Dellin Betances electric outing, the Francisco Liriano rumors, Joba Chamberlain‘s impressive outing, and some early questions surrounding the team. In Port St. […]

Castillo & Perez Heading in Opposite Directions

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

They always say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Although Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo have been with the Mets a combined eight years, a new general manager and field manager gave them one last opportunity for a first impression. Although I figured both to be dumped before the end […]

Adding Willie Harris to the 2b Mix

Monday, February 21st, 2011

Conventional wisdom had four individuals - Daniel Murphy, Brad Emaus, Justin Turner, and Luis Castillo- competing for the second base job. When Kevin Burkhardt said today that Willie Harris might be “the best defensive second baseman of the group,” it got me thinking if he could be a viable candidate as well. Although the ten year […]

Listen: Grapefruit Roundup Tonight at 8pm

Sunday, February 20th, 2011

The first of many Grapefruit Roundups premieres tonight at 8pm NYBD contributor Joe Delgrippo and I will discuss the Yankees through the first half hour. Topics include the importance of Phil Hughes, responding to Bill Madden’s column on the Yankees development philosophy, and some of the players we are looking at this spring. We talk […]

Second Base: Does Castillo Have a Chance?

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Terry Collins gave Luis Castillo a compliment yesterday. “He’s still the hardest player in the National League to strike out. That speaks a lot.” Many already have Castillo, along with Oliver Perez, scheduled for the waiver wire sometime in March. I agree with that assessment, but it does appear that everyone will have a legitimate […]

Enough of the Winter of Discontent

Monday, February 14th, 2011

I realize, in what has been a legitimate Winter of Discontent for both Yankees and Mets fans, my writing has been, for the most part, absent from NYBD presentations. The reason is my recent pursuit, that of Director of Media Relations for the Trenton Steel, a new Indoor Football team which will begin play in […]