Castro's struggles continue with two-error day

CHICAGO -- There's been a lot of talk about Starlin Castro's hitting mechanics. On Sunday, the Cubs' shortstop was on the field working on his defense.

Castro committed his 12th error on Saturday. Infield coach David Bell, bench coach Jamie Quirk and coach Mike Borzello joined Castro and second baseman Darwin Barney on the field before batting practice.

The extra work didn't pay off immediately, as Castro committed his 13th and 14th errors of the season on a short throw to first that allowed the Astros to score a run in the Cubs' 14-6 win, as well as a dropped-throw error. Castro's 14 errors are the most in the Majors.

"There's a lot of things in his defense that need to get better," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "Today was working on his backhand and 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 tool box with your backhand. ... It was some things we have to get cleaned up."

This hasn't been a good year offensively for Castro, a two-time All-Star, who is now batting .228. He began the year with a .297 career average in three seasons. Sveum didn't see the 23-year-old infielder fretting too much.

"These are things everybody goes through and part of the adversity everybody goes through," Sveum said. "Some guys have peaks and valleys. You're going to go through this at some point in your career."

This is the longest skid in Castro's young career.

"People can go 25, 30, 35 years without any adversity in their life," Sveum said. "You see what kind of man you are when you have to deal with adversity. Everybody has to go through it in life. Nobody said life was easy."