Today I wrote about Nick Castellanos. This kind of column was almost targeted more at the talk radio kind of folks than, say, a Bless You Boys style of audience. I got the feeling that a lot of people saw Nick Castellanos as the answer in right field. After all, Brennan Boesch wasn't exactly playing well. Meanwhile there are stories and reports over and over about the numbers Castellanos was putting up first in Lakeland, then in Erie. When the Tigers moved Castellanos from third base to a corner outfield position -- as many projected from him as soon as draft day -- people automatically took that to mean he'd be making a major league debut in 2012 to solve the Tigers' woes.
But a reality check. Castellanos has slowed down. He's not even slugging that well in a league and with a team that often produces super-sized numbers. This isn't to say we knock Castellanos down and take away his top prospect ranking. It is, however, a sign we should give him a little room to breathe, to learn a new position. Tigers great Al Kaline said Castellanos needed a little while to learn the position, too. Let's not try to drop him into a Central Division pennant chase and put high expectations on him, OK?
Castellanos' time will come. Patience.
Finally, if you wonder, I used a famous German opera (based on folklore) as my backdrop and latched onto the idea of unintended consequences. I suppose I didn't have to do that, but it seemed more fun.