2013 Topps Starlin Castro

As I've done previously, I'm taking a closer look at the 2013 Topps Cubs team set card by card.

As the title says, today's topic is Starlin Castro, card #113.

2013 Topps Starlin Castro #113

At first glance, I thought this photo would be a little more difficult to track down because Castro has a pretty uniform follow through on his swing. But a closer look shows me the Brewers bat boy in the back and Catsro swinging a pink bat and wearing pink wrist bands. Normally, I associate pink with October for Breast Cancer Awareness month but I also know that MLB usually does something around Mother's Day too. So I was looking for Starlin Castro in Milwaukee in May. That search brought up 6 results on Getty Images. All six were from the same game on Sunday, May 13 and only three showed Castro at bat.

Photo by Mike McGinnis, courtesy of Getty Images

The caption didn't provide a specific at bat or inning so I went off to Baseball-Reference to find the boxscore. Castro went 2-5 with an RBI in an 8-2 Cubs victory over the home team Brewers. The gaze of Castro, the catcher and the umpire all seem to be towards fair territory so I'm going to focus on balls in play.

1st At Bat - Strikeout swinging NOPE

2nd At Bat - Single to Right Field (Line Drive) MAYBE

3rd At Bat - Flyball Out (Deep CF-RF) MAYBE 

4th At Bat - Groundout (Shortstop) MAYBE

5th At Bat - Single to Left Field (Line Drive) MAYBE

Anyone care to venture a guess on which direction everybody's looking based on those at bats? I thought CF-RF at first but when I look back at it, it could just as easily be to the left side of CF too.

2013 Topps Starlin Castro #113 back

Castro's Career Chase is Pete Rose's all-time hits record. I'm not claiming he's anywhere close but of all the Cubs Career Chase records I've mentioned so far, this is the closest to being met. And that's not saying much because the other ones were ridiculous. Although at his league leading rate of 207 hits in 2011, he needs 20+ more season like that to break the record. Castro was the first player born in the 1990's to make a MLB debut so it's nice he started early!