9/6 Castro to get breather

Rookie shortstop Starlin Castro is going to get a little breather. Cubs manager Mike Quade decided to sit the 20-year-old Monday and Tuesday for a little mental health break. Castro forgot how many outs were in the inning in the seventh on Sunday  and also missed a play at second base in the fourth on Saturday.

“Every so often it’s better for a player to observe than participate,” Quade said Monday. “He needs to watch a game or so and can sit with some very smart people on my staff and keep an eye on things and maybe reflect a little bit.

“He’s had so much thrown at him, that I think sometimes to step back and take a look at things and take a couple days might help him,” Quade said.

The Cubs have all of their roving Minor League instructors with the big league team, including infield instructor Franklin Font.

Quade, who recalls working with a young Miguel Tejada in the Minor Leagues, talked to Castro on Monday.

“Do I want to scream and yell about it? No,” Quade said. “I want the guy to take a step back and look at it from a different perspective and give himself a chance to clear his head and how he can compartmentalize — if that’s the right word — all the different tasks that go with that position playing at this level. I think a break will help him.”

Castro, who never played at the Triple-A level, ranks third in the National League in batting at .317. His offense hasn’t been a problem. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that he’s only 20.

“I’m a lot more patient and a lot more understanding that this is not [the Minor Leagues in] Huntsville, this is Wrigley Field,” Quade said. “This kid has a chance to be so incredibly valuable to this franchise that the more he can do to help himself and clear his mind and be consistent in what he does is going to determine just how good he’s going to be.”

– Carrie Muskat