Struggling Castro working on his defense for Cubs
Not much is going right for Starlin Castro lately.
The embattled Cubs shortstop went 0-for-4 with a walk in Sunday’s 14-6 victory over the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field.
He also committed 2 errors, giving him a team-high 14. Four of his errors came in the three games against the Astros.
One of Sunday’s errors came after Castro backhanded a grounder off the bat of Matt Dominguez and threw wildly. Earlier in the day, Castro came out for early work, specifically on backhand plays.
“There’s a lot of things with his defense that need to get better,” manager Dale Sveum said. “Today, he was working on his backhand, just trying to get more stable and have a base when you throw the ball and not be so off balance.
“And understand the different things you have to have in your toolbox on your backhand. There are all kinds of different backhands, according to the runner, slow, fast, medium grounders.
“It’s some things we’ve got to get cleaned up.”
Castro’s hitting line stands at .228/.264/.318. He was robbed of a hit on a sliding catch by center fielder Jason Maxwell in the fourth. He lined out to third in the sixth.
Sveum was asked how he thought Castro was handling his struggles mentally.
“So far, I don’t see him really going off the deep end or going to hang himself or anything like that,” Sveum said. “But these are things, like I said, that everybody goes through.
“It’s part of the adversity that goes along with playing in the major leagues or any major sport. It’s ups and downs, and some guys have peaks and valleys, and some guys, it’s a level playing field all the time.
“For the most part, you’re going to go through this kind of thing sometime in your career.
“People can go 25, 30, 35 years old without maybe having any adversity in your life at all. See what kind of man you are when you have to deal with adversity.
“That’s part of the gig, and everybody has to go through it. Nobody said life was easy.”
Offense all around:Anthony Rizzo was among several Cubs enjoying a big Sunday at the plate. He was 3-for-3 with a career-high 4 runs scored. He had a double, a home run and a sacrifice fly, as he drove in 4.Rizzo enjoyed his first multi-RBI game since June 5 against the Angels in Anaheim.Right fielder Nate Schierholtz had his third 3-hit game of the season. He is 18-for-54 (.333) in June.Second baseman Darwin Barney, who got off to a slow start at the plate, has hit safely in 11 of 12 games, going 16-for-48 (.333), including four multihit games.