Byrd: Castro Looks Like 10-Year MLB Veteran

Starlin Castro had a .300 batting average as a 20-year old rookie shortstop for the Chicago Cubs last season, and it looks like a similar, if not better, season could await him in 2011.

The thing that makes Castro so impressive is his comfort level at the plate. While he still might be developing his defense, the youngster can flat out hit

"Bottom line is he's just a great player," Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd said on the Mully and Hanley Show. "He's one of those gifted guys. At 21 years old, he looks like he's been playing in the big leagues for 10 years. I wasn't blessed with that ability, to be able to go up there and hit like that. I have to work very hard, you know, just to be a fifth of what Starlin Castro is. He's just going to be a great player all around."

LISTEN: Marlon Byrd On The Mully And Hanley Show

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The comfort in the Majors, like Byrd said, isn't something that most players inherently have. Most players work at it over years in the Minors and again once the reach the Majors.

"But that comfort level," Byrd said. "Coming up in the Dominican [Republic], being around all of those superstars, he was probably playing winter ball since he was 16, 17 years old against a lot of older guys. It's one of those things where he just has no fear, it's a comfort level, and you're going to see it all year from him."