Castillo Proves Less Can Yield More

It wasn't long ago that Frank Castillo would run until his legsburned, then supplement his off-day workouts with a heavy dose ofpitching.

And it wasn't long ago that Castillo would pace the mound,ponder every delivery and kick the dirt when he felt like kickinghimself.

It wasn't long ago that Castillo was getting hammered.

"He was going through a funk," Cubs manager Jim Lefebvre said."He seemed lost, confused, like he had no game plan. He didn't haveany presence on the mound, and hitters sense that."

Much to Lefebvre's delight, hitters are seeing a much differentCastillo these days. How different?

"He's our best pitcher right now," Lefebvre said.

Castillo (5-7) has lasted at least seven innings in his lastfour starts, a feat he had accomplished just five times in his 17outings before that. In his last four games, he has allowed six runs(1.86 ERA) and walked only one batter.

Although his ERA has dropped to 3.94, he has only one victory toshow for his dramatic turnaround. But after what Castillo has beenthrough, outcome is a distant second to performance.

This is a guy who earlier in the season was shutting out the LosAngeles Dodgers on two hits through six innings. But after agrounder sneaked into the outfield to start the seventh, Castillowalked the next batter, then surrendered a three-run home run to EricDavis.

"Just like that, I was out of the game," Castillo said. "It allhappened in about five minutes.

"The problem was that I was thinking too much about what I wasgoing to do instead of just doing it. Maybe that has something to dowith confidence."

Lefebvre agreed, but he also sensed the problem went a littledeeper. So he and pitching coach Billy Connors told Castillo to cutback on his training regimen. Just like that, a lost pitcherregained his presence.

"I've always done that much work, and I've always thought that'swhy I've been successful," Castillo said. "But after the All-Starbreak, I cut back my off-day pitching from 20 minutes to 10. Nowinstead of feeling beat before I even step on the mound, I feelrefreshed."

Castillo, who is scheduled to start Thursday against theMontreal Expos, is coming off his best effort of the season, one thatwas laced with typical misfortune. After shutting out the SanFrancisco Giants through seven innings Saturday, Castillo had toleave the game when he took a line drive off his right thumb to startthe eighth. The Cubs eventually won the game, but Castillo was leftwith a no-decision.

"It was just a reaction, trying to catch the ball," Castillosaid. "I stopped one like that in 1991 with (Class AAA) Iowa, and Iended up breaking my hand. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson."

Of course, that will come with time. Meanwhile, Castillofinally has grasped a much bigger problem.

"Now he's making his pitches and not worrying about thehitters," Lefebvre said. "He's got that determination, and he'sgetting more confidence with every outing."