With second team, Castro gets opportunity at second
The Chicago Cubs had a losing
TAMPA record and finished fifth in each of Starlin Castro’s first five seasons in the major leagues, during which he earned selection to three All-Star Games. The year they finally got good, the Cubs made him change positions and then traded him.
That would be the cynical way to look at Castro’s Cubs tenure, which until last season consisted of an extended rebuilding effort and little support for a young shortstop who led the National League in hits in his second season.
That’s not what Castro dwells on when he thinks back to his time in the Windy City. Instead, he has openly expressed his appreciation for the city and team that helped him grow into an established player, although he acknowledges it was painful to part ways just when the Cubs were becoming a force, making the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
“That was hard, but at least I got to enjoy last year,” Castro said in Spanish. “It was some of the most fun I’ve had in my career. Now that’s in the memory banks, and it’s a new cassette, a new CD, a new team and a new opportunity. I’ll try to do my job and get to the playoffs here, too.”
Castro joined the New York Yankees in a Dec. 8 trade that sent pitcher Adam Warren and infielder Brendan Ryan to Chicago, a move that should bolster a weak offensive spot for the Yankees.
Their second basemen, mostly Stephen Drew, Jose Pirela and Ryan, ranked 14th in the American League in batting average (.223) and 11th in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.683) in 2015. Castro has career figures of .281 and .725, respectively.
Castro had not played an inning at second base in the majors until Aug. 11, when he came back from a three-game break as the Cubs gave him time to sort through a prolonged slump and a demotion. Not only was he replaced at shortstop by rookie Addison Russell, who moved across the bag from second, but Castro also was not even assured of a starting spot.
With his career at a crossroads and his pride hurt, Castro pondered his options and neither moped nor demanded a trade. Instead, he worked on learning how to play second base and seized the regular job, finding his stroke and batting .426 in September.
“The team was playing very well, and I didn’t want to add a negative note,” said Castro, who turns 26 on Thursday. “So I just focused on doing my work until I got an opportunity again, and once I did I took advantage of it and became what I had been, an everyday player.”
He’s not a finished product, at least not at second base. The early part of Castro’s career was marked by lapses in concentration, and he can’t afford those while still adapting to a position that, while not as demanding as shortstop, presents different angles and challenges.
Former Yankees second baseman Willie Randolph, a six-time All- Star who’s in camp as a guest instructor, said Castro would need a lot of repetitions to master the nuances of the position. Those include knowing how aggressively to pursue a chopper and which way to feed the ball to the shortstop — straight throw, backhanded flip or underhanded toss — in doubleplay situations.
“He’s got a good skill set, but I want to work more on the mental side,” Randolph said. “What I look for in a middle infielder is a certain focus and a certain instinct for playing the position. I can’t say right away he’s ready to make that transition 100%, because there is a different mentality there. Can he adapt? I think he can, but it takes time.”
One of Castro’s primary goals during spring training has been to establish a rapport with shortstop Didi Gregorius, who enjoyed a fine first season with the Yankees after a trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It took adjusting, though. Gregorius was batting .215 and had made seven errors through June 1, possibly feeling the weight of replacing Yankees icon Derek Jeter and playing in New York. Gregorius acknowledged he pressed initially and started playing better — he finished with a .265 batting average and 13 errors — once he loosened up. His advice for Castro? “Just focus on playing baseball,” said Gregorius, whose spring locker is next to Castro’s. “The fans want you to do well, and when you don’t they’ll let you know. But it’s a good place to play. It makes you play hard. He’s got six years of experience, so it shouldn’t be a hard transition.”
Veterans Carlos Beltran and Alex Rodriguez have tried to make that transition smoother, reaching out to Castro shortly after the trade. His hot start to the spring might help as well. Through his first nine games, Castro was hitting .417 with two homers.
Beltran said another factor that might benefit Castro — who adds a right-handed bat to a lefty-heavy lineup — is the abundance of accomplished veterans in the Yankees lineup.
“He knows he’s not all alone,” Beltran said. “In Chicago he had to be the leader, the key guy to deliver the clutch hit, because the team relied on him. On this team he doesn’t have to feel that way. We have several guys who can do that and more, and I think that could take some pressure off and allow him to play his game.”