After costly mistakes vs. Yankees, Willi Castro back in lineup

Willi Castro was back in the Twins lineup on Thursday. Rocco Baldelli said he is confident that was the right decision.

“He told me he was thinking about taking me out, but he said he wasn’t going to do that,” Castro said, one day after losing track of the number of outs in center field, a mental mistake that arguably cost the Twins a run. “I really appreciate that. It’s the first time that’s happened to me. I know that’s not going to happen again.”

Castro caught Anthony Volpe’s bases-loaded fly ball on the run Wednesday and, incorrectly believing it was the third out, continued jogging toward the dugout as Gleyber Torres tagged up and headed home to score.

One day earlier, he misjudged and mishandled a Juan Soto fly ball, allowing Soto to reach second base on a ball that should have been caught.

“Yes, the last two days have been a challenge to get through, and we’ve seen some things that we had not seen one time from him,” Baldelli said. “He’s just trying to find a way to mentally settle down and relax, so he’s not anxiety-ridden when he’s out on the field. You can’t play this game that way.”

The answer, the manager decided, was not punishment, but support. Play Castro again, but in the infield, where he is usually more comfortable.

“We believe in him and I believe in him. He’s OK. I think his head was just spinning a little bit,” Baldelli said. “I’d rather get him out there to play through it than have him sit on the side and think about it right now.”

Castro had one of the Twins’ three hits Thursday and, ironically, didn’t have a ball hit to him at third base the entire afternoon.

It’s great to be back. Stuff like that’s going to happen sometimes,” Castro said. “I know I’ve got to be more aware.”

The Twins outfield defense has been subpar for the past few days, with Alex Kirilloff failing to catch a fly ball on the warning track Thursday that glanced off his glove. But help is on its way, Baldelli said.

Byron Buxton is expected to fly to Cleveland to rejoin the Twins on Friday after playing his second rehab game for the St. Paul Saints on Thursday.

Buxton, the DH, went 0-for-3 with an RBI before getting pulled vs. Omaha at CHS Field. The Saints blew a four-run lead and lost 9-8 in 11 innings.

Buxton has missed two weeks because of soreness in his right knee that has now subsided.

“Adding Buck back into the outfield will always [stabilize] us. His range changes things,” Baldelli said of the 2017 Platinum Glove winner. “It changes the game out there. That’ll be a very good thing for us when it comes to making outs out there.”

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Chris Paddack’s day-after breakdown of his Wednesday start with pitching coach Pete Maki went well, the righthander said.

“I was 26-of-29 for getting ahead of hitters, threw 75% strikes,” said Paddack, who gave up five runs on 12 hits in five innings and was charged with the Twins’ 5-1 loss. “Some things to work on, obviously, but more positive than negative.”

The Twins also found no evidence that he was tipping his pitches, Paddack said, despite posts on X by baseball commentator Jimmy O’Brien, better known as Jomboy, that claimed he could tell what pitch was coming.

“It’s just the internet. I’m not the type of guy to let stuff like that get to me, and Jomboy’s a Yankee fan,” Paddack said. “I’m very confident with where my stuff is at. If the Yankees had a legit tip about me, there would be balls hit harder than they did.”

Only six balls were hit with an exit velocity of more than 100 mph, and only three for hits, he pointed out.

“It’s the new era of this game, with people watching hours of video looking for whether I blow out my left cheek during my windup, stuff like that,” Paddack said. “But we have guys watching for stuff, too. If it makes me better, I’m not opposed to that.”