13 Starlin Castro, SS

No matter how you look at it, Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro's two-hit game Friday was another impressive showing from the young star.

On the one hand, Castro, who went 2 for 4 with a run scored, has multiple hits in five out of the last 10 games, as it's becoming old hat for him. On the other, both hits came off Mets starter Matt Harvey, who had allowed just two players to get multiple hits off him so far this season. The Cubs went on to lose 3-2, as Castro was the only batter with more than one hit.

Castro has upped his batting average from .277 to .287 over the last 10 games, while batting .341 over that stretch, with seven RBI and eight runs scored. 

Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro was moved into the leadoff spot Friday against the Nationals with left-hander Ross Detwiler on the mound. Castro has not hit from the top spot in the lineup this season, but is batting .319 with eight home runs and 31 RBI over 74 career games (320 at-bats) from the leadoff spot.

“It’s just kind of process of elimination, really,” manager Dale Sveum told MLB.com. “The two choices were him and [Cody] Ransom, and having Ransom in the lineup, hopefully, he’ll hit a home run and I’d like him to do it with somebody on base.”

Castro entered Friday's contest hitting .242/.286/.273 with one double and three RBI over his last eight games. 

Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro made his major-league debut on May 7, 2010 and celebrated his three-year anniversary Tuesday. He leads all National League players with 477 games played since his debut and is tied for sixth among shortstops with 200 RBI in that span.

Castro also ranks fifth in the majors with his 567 hits.

Manager Dale Sveum told MLB.com that the 23-year-old still has plenty of room to improve.

"There's progress since the day he got here," Sveum said, "but I think it's still a work in progress with some mental things at shortstop. If he wants to get to another level swinging the bat, there's still a lot of improvement that can happen there to get the OPS higher. It comes and goes with him as much as anything. There's still quite a bit of improvement that can happen on both ends."

Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro entered Monday's series opener against the Rangers having scored six runs in the previous six games. He scored three times in the 9-2 win, going 2 for 4 with two RBI and a walk.

The 23-year-old singled home two in the fourth inning and scored on Anthony Rizzo's base hit a batter later. He scored after walking in the sixth and again on Rizzo's two-run homer in the eighth.

Castro is batting .300 (9 for 30) in his last seven games with a homer and five RBI.