Notes: Castillo supporting Pujols

McKeon: Willis the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year

By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com

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MIAMI -- Albert Pujols has a fan in Luis Castillo.

 

Riding a 29-game hitting streak -- he singled in his first at-bat Friday night -- Pujols is not just more than halfway to Joe DiMaggio's all-time record of 56 games. Another number the Cardinals slugger is approaching is Castillo's streak of 35 games, the record for a Latin-born player.

 

The Marlins All-Star second baseman, like Pujols, is from the Dominican Republic.

 

"I have the record," said Castillo, whose string ran from May 8-June 21, 2002. "(But) he's Dominican, too. If somebody does it, why should I be mad? I know he's trying hard."

 

Castillo hit .403 (62-for-154) during his run, which began to gain a great deal of attention once it reached 28 games.

 

"He's going to have a lot of pressure," Castillo says. "The longer it goes, he will have more TV interviews and everything. I had a lot of pressure on me. I was on TV all the time. I don't know what is going on with Pujols. "That's not easy, getting a hit every day. It depends how he feels at the plate. When you feel good, you feel you can hit every pitch. Pujols is a great hitter. I don't know if he thinks about the streak -- his team is trying to get to first place."

 

Castillo's streak is the longest since 1987, and most by a second baseman. It's tied for the 10th highest in the history of the game

 

The speedy Castillo had 17 multihit games, and benefited from infield hits to keep his streak going. The only switch-hitter with a longer string than Castillo is Pete Rose, who set the National League mark with 44 straight hits in 1978.

 

"I was thinking a lot," Castillo said, reflecting back on last year. "Every time I came to the stadium, I said, 'I need a hit tonight.' You want to keep the people happy. You try so hard. "

 

Top rookie?: Manager Jack McKeon obviously is a bit biased.

 

But he strongly believes left-hander Dontrelle Willis is the frontrunner for National League Rookie of the Year honors.

 

"No question," McKeon said.

 

Arizona right-hander Brandon Webb is gaining consideration for the award.

 

McKeon notes that Willis, who is 11-3 (3.10), still has to keep winning to be the top rookie.

 

"It's still too early," the 72-year-old manager says. "[but] I think he's the leading candidate."

 

McKeon was asked Friday by a Japanese TV station if Willis was deserving of the Cy Young.

 

The manager says no, for now, because Atlanta's Russ Ortiz is racking up impressive numbers.

 

"Willis is superior in my opinion to Webb," McKeon said. "I think if [Willis] gets 15, 16 or 17 wins, he might get consideration [for the Cy Young]."

 

Meeting Winfield: Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, a vice president/senior advisor for the Padres, spent some time before Friday's game talking with Willis and Marlins center fielder Juan Pierre.

 

Through the urging of former Major League outfielder Warren Cromartie, a radio personality in Miami, Winfield hooked up with the two Marlins.

 

Winfield told both players to never to take the game for granted.

 

"He's a class act," Pierre said. "There are not too many guys who were first-round picks in three sports."

 

Winfield was a standout in baseball, football and basketball at the University of Minnesota.

 

"It's a real honor to talk to him," said Pierre, who has met Winfield in the past.

 

Pierre and Willis both called the Hall of Fame outfielder, "Mr. Winfield."

 

A student of the game, Pierre said he also exchanged phone numbers with Dodgers outfielder Rickey Henderson a few days ago.

 

Pierre says he wants to "pick the brain" of Henderson, baseball's all-time leader in steals and a future Hall of Famer.

 

Questionable calls: Some controversial calls at first base during the Marlins' 6-4 loss to the Dodgers on Thursday raised some questions from Florida pitcher Mark Redman about umpire Jim Wolf.

 

Jim Wolf is the brother of Phillies left-handed pitcher Randy Wolf. Philadelphia entered Friday's action a half-game up on Florida for the Wild Card lead.

 

While Redman noted that Jim Wolf is a professional and the pitcher prefers to make peace with umpires, the left-hander conceded that negative thoughts cross every player's mind.

 

"You hope he doesn't do that [have family influences]. But it does cross people's minds."

 

One close call that went against the Marlins came when Jeromy Burnitz reached on an infield single in the fourth inning. Burnitz's bat shattered on a grounder to second, and Derrek Lee waited for the barrel to land before he scrambled to first. In a close play, Lee reached for the bag with his foot and appeared to touch it before Burnitz reached first.

 

Wolf signaled safe, and Burnitz would later score.

 

Coming off the field, Redman told Wolf, "You're better than that."

 

"I don't think he liked it too much," the pitcher later said.

 

Wolf exchanged some words to Redman as he entered the dugout.

 

"It's not a big deal," Randy Wolf told reporters in Philadelphia on Friday. "It's nothing. Anybody who knows my brother knows he's a professional and has integrity."

 

Crew chief Admin Young told reporters in Miami on Thursday that the players will have to deal with the issue themselves.

 

"That goes to integrity, and [Jim Wolf] has great integrity."

 

Down on the farm: A day after being swept, Double-A Carolina took both ends of their doubleheader with Greenville on Thursday.

 

Carolina won, 6-2, over Greenville in the opener and then held on for a 3-2 victory in the nightcap.

 

Sean Fesh improved to 8-1, and Jesus Medrano went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Billy Hall swiped three bases, giving him 36 on the season.

 

Frank Gracesqui improved to 2-3 by winning Game 2.

 

Triple-A Albuquerque was upended, 3-1, by Oklahoma. Catcher Matt Treanor had two hits. Lefty Juan Alvarez threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

 

The skipper says: "Winning helps to solve a lot of your ills. Somebody said that. I think it was Grover Alexander." -- quipped McKeon, who playfully butchers the attribution on quotes

 

Credit:Floridamarlins.com

can dontrelle srtill get to 16 and 17 wins like mckeon said?

 

how many more probable starts does dontrelle have?

6-8 id say

yeah, I think including today he'd have 8 if everything worked out...