Headley one of few bright spots in ugly defeat to Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — No one embodied the Yankees’ brutal start a year ago more than Chase Headley.

When the Yankees fell to 9-17 on May 5, Headley was hitting .151 with an almost comical .401 OPS.

So if you’re searching for positives from Sunday’s 7-3 loss to Tampa Bay, you can turn to Headley, who had three hits — beating the shift each time.

“It’s nice to get a couple of hits out of the gate,” Headley said. “I felt like I didn’t get a hit the last two weeks of spring training this year.”

He smacked a single down the left-field line with two strikes and scored in a two-run second and then laid a bunt down for an easy single in the seventh. He finished his day with a third single in the ninth, this one through the hole left vacant again by Evan Longoria at third.

“[Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer] was throwing me a boatload of offspeed pitches,” Headley said. “The whole day, it was changeups and sliders and I was trying see the ball a little bit deeper.”

It paid off in the second and then with Starlin Castro on first, he squared to bunt.

“If they’re gonna give me a free hit, I’m gonna take it,” Headley said. “The more I execute that, the truer they have to play me. Yeah, the hit’s great, but more than that, it gets guys closer to where they should be — so when I do hit a line drive on the right side, it’s got a decent chance of finding a hole and there’s not four guys over there waiting for it.”

Headley had just two three-hit days last season and was no doubt in Joe Girardi’s mind when, in the final days of spring training, the manager repeatedly said that instead of focusing solely on the young guns in the lineup, the Yankees had to get more from their experienced players.

Both Headley and Jacoby Ellsbury suffered through subpar seasons in 2016 and now are hitting fifth and seventh, respectively. If Aaron Judge proves he can hit at this level and Didi Gregorius returns from a shoulder injury in May, Ellsbury and Headley could fall even further.

“Everybody’s got to do their job,” Headley said. “That’s how everyone feels. … Make no mistake, the young guys are going to be a big part of our lineup, but if we do what we’re capable of, we’ll be fine.”

And on a day when not much went right, Headley could at least say he did his job.