DETROIT -- Welcome back to Detroit, Willi Castro.
Oh, by the way, you’ll be playing shortstop in 35-degree weather and facing Gerrit Cole on Day 1.
Castro, who turns 25 this week, began last season as the Tigers’ everyday shortstop but has since been forced to rebrand himself as a utility man.
The Tigers recalled Castro from Toledo on Sunday to take the spot of Javier Baez, who was placed on the 10-day injured list with a swollen thumb.
Manager A.J. Hinch said Castro would have started Sunday’s series finale in Kansas City, but it was rained out. Now he’ll be in the lineup against Cole and the Yankees.
Between spring training and Triple-A Toledo, he’s played just about every position on the diamond. But for the duration of what could be a short assignment in Detroit, he’ll be back home at shortstop.
“I think if you asked Willi to run out to his favorite position, he’s going to pick shortstop,” Hinch said at the end of spring training. “I think he wants to play at the major-league level regardless of what position it is, but I still think he wants to play shortstop.”
Castro, who was the final player cut at the end of spring training and probably would have made the club were the Tigers not stocking up on pitching, said he was disappointed but not discouraged by his detour to Toledo. Castro played in 125 games at the big-league level last year, hitting .220 with a .624 OPS (72 OPS+) in 450 plate appearances.
“I feel like I belong here,” Castro said. “I worked a lot this offseason to come back stronger. I’m never going to give up. I’m going to keep fighting and playing ball like I always do.”
Baez is eligible to return from the injured list as early as Saturday, and the Tigers are hopeful his absence will be brief.
“I think the concern that we had at the end of the Kansas City series was just a lack of strength,” Hinch said. “And once we determined that he didn’t quite have the same hand strength that he needed to have to compete, we needed to put him on the injured list.”
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