Cubs’ Joe Maddon to Starlin Castro: ‘You're not getting traded’

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon assured struggling shortstop Starlin Castro he would not be traded.

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon assured struggling shortstop Starlin Castro he would not be traded after he was scratched from the starting lineup on Wednesday, according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.

On Tuesday, Castro was pulled in the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies and replaced by 21-year-old Addison Russell in a double switch that got outfielder Chris Coghlan into the game. Following the Cubs' 7-2 loss on Tuesday night, Castro was told he would not be starting on Wednesday and requested an explanation from his manager.

“I just asked him, ‘Why did you take me out of the game?’” Castro said Wednesday prior to the Cubs matchup against the Rockies. “He said, ‘It's nothing serious. We wanted to put [Chris] Coghlan in the game.’ I didn't want the day off [Wednesday], and he told me, ‘Take it, relax, we want you here, you're not going nowhere.’”

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Maddon said Castro did not ask him if he would be traded by Chicago before the July 31 non-waiver deadline. 

“No, he did not [ask],” Maddon said. “I said, ‘Listen, you're not getting traded. Just relax and play and don't worry about this stuff.’”

Castro, a three-time All-Star, is batting .163 in July and .237 overall this season.

- Kayla Lombardo