Yankees’ Starlin Castro prompting thoughts of Robinson Cano

BRADENTON, Fla. — Starlin Castro wears No. 14 on his back, but there are times when you’d swear he should be wearing No. 24 — Robinson Cano’s old number.

Castro made a play in the third inning of Wednesday night’s exhibition game at Steinbrenner Field that was pure Cano when he raced after a pop-up in short rightfield and made an effortless-looking over-the-shoulder catch.

A half-inning earlier, Castro hit an opposite-field two-run home run to right-centerfield, his first homer of a superb spring training at the plate. He hit his second — a prodigious wallop over the batter’s eye in centerfield — in Thursday’s 7-2 victory over the Pirates at McKechnie Field.

Castro, who went 1-for-3, is batting .417. The three-time All-Star still is only 25 despite going into his seventh big-league season. He’s still learning the nuances of playing second base after moving from shortstop to second last August and playing 38 games at the new position. Before that, he was the Cubs’ shortstop for his first five-plus years.

Castro currently also is the Yankees’ backup shortstop. He started there Thursday.

“The most early work I do, the extra work, is second base,” Castro said. “When I start at short, I take a day off and just take ground balls at short.”

Castro’s athletic catch on Wednesday drew the notice of manager Joe Girardi and former Yankees second baseman Willie Randolph, who is in camp as a special instructor.

“I said, ‘Willie, you had that in your back pocket,’ ’’ Girardi said. “He said, ‘Yeah, but I would have had a hamstring problem.’ ”

Randolph played shortstop as a 17-year-old in rookie ball after he was drafted by the Pirates in 1972 out of Tilden High School in Brooklyn. He converted to second base the following season and played it for the next 20 years. So he knows a thing or two about the position and is keeping a close eye on the Castro conversion.

“We did a little work a couple of days ago,” Randolph said. “Just talking a little bit, reinforcing what they’re doing with him. Then I try to go by what I see. He’s picking it up. It takes time. It really takes time. I think that it’s a tough, tough transition, probably one of the more difficult transitions on the field, especially when you’ve been on the other side. When I talk about middle infielders, I want to see how you handle the intangibles, the plays, the rhythm, their instincts. When to eat the ground ball. How to turn a double play. To be fair, I’m going to watch him.”

Randolph thinks Castro can handle it. But the former Mets manager said he’d like to see a little more intensity from Castro when it comes to learning the finer points of his new position.

“You have to work at it,” Randolph said. “You’ve really got to put in a lot of time and focus into it. When you look at a guy, you can tell if he’s engaged. I like to see my infielders engaged. So far, maybe he’s just trying to get acclimated, he’s just trying to find his way. He doesn’t seem as engaged as I’d like him to be. So that’s what I’m going to be watching for.”

The charge that he’s not focused enough has been leveled at Castro before (just as Yankees fans used to get on Cano for not running out ground balls). In 2013, then-Cubs manager Dale Sveum lambasted Castro for a series of mental errors. Castro apologized.

Castro has nothing to apologize for in his first Yankees camp.

“I think he’s done a really good job,” Girardi said. “I think he’s done a really good job of being part of this club and I think he’s going to add a lot to this team. I’m happy we got him.”

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.