Starlin role
First-year Yankee Starlin Castro’s arrival this season didn’t create the same buzz as the rookies who recently debuted, but the 26-year-old infielder’s best years may also still be ahead.
In Wednesday’s 7-4 loss to the Blue Jays, Castro set a new singleseason career-high with his 15th home run, also setting a new personal-best with 37 extra-base hits. Castro, who went 2-for-4, has 23 RBIs in his past 30 games.
Manager Joe Girardi said he has been pleased with the infielder’s progression. Castro played exclusively at shortstop for the Cubs until the final weeks of the 2015 season before moving to second base fulltime upon joining the Yankees.
“I think he’s done a lot of good things,” Girardi said. “I think he’s continued to improve at second base. I think we’ve seen some plays the last week that I don’t think he makes early on in April. I think he’s gotten better turning the double play. I think he’s gotten some really big hits for us. He’s been durable, he’s played every day. He’s played pretty well.”
Brett Gardner returned to the lineup for the first time since getting hit by a pitch on Friday and injuring his right ankle. After missing four straight games, Gardner went 1-for-4.
Rookie Tyler Austin started at first base, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. … Chase Headley snapped a 52 at-bat drought by hitting his 11th home run of the season. The Yankees third baseman has reached base safely in 12 consecutive games. … Yankees pitchers combined to tie a season-high with 16 strikeouts. … Aaron Judge is batting .389 (7-for-18) through his first five career games.
Reliever Kirby Yates threw one scoreless inning after being recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees sent down southpaw Chasen Shreve, who allowed four runs without recording an out in Tuesday night’s loss.