CHICAGO (AP) — All-Star shortstop Starlin Castro was back leading off for the Chicago Cubs against Atlanta on Tuesday after sitting out a game because he wasn’t paying attention in the field as a pitch was thrown.
TV cameras caught Castro kicking at the dirt and then walking toward the outfield, never looking toward home plate, as reliever James Russell delivered to St. Louis’ Daniel Descalso in the sixth inning of Sunday night’s 6-2 loss. ESPN aired a clip of the play the next inning and analyst Bobby Valentine spent nearly seven minutes criticizing Castro and the Cubs’ inability to get him to focus. The network also showed him in the field looking at the sky and standing with his glove off.
The 21-year-old Castro vowed he will “never do it again.”
