BOSTON - The Red Sox could use a jolt on offense right now.
Luckily for them, there's a player down in Pawtucket who is nearing the point where he can provide just that.
Rusney Castillo, the Cuban outfielder signed to a seven-year, $72.5 million dollar deal during the 2014 season, is heating up at the plate after injuries slowed the start to his season.
Over the past three games with the PawSox, Castillo is batting 7-for-16 with two home runs, four RBI and two runs. He's reached base in 11 of his last 12 games, and has at least one hit in nine of those 11 games.
John Farrell is at least thinking about possible changes at some point. Right field is definitely an area that the Sox could look to act on. Currently, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Daniel Nava are both up with the club, as is Shane Victorino. Victorino is obviously staying put. But with the way Castillo is playing - not to mention the investment the Sox made in him - it seems likely that he'll be up with the team sooner than later. Mookie Betts isn't going anywhere either, but he too has struggled at the plate for parts of this season.
Castillo is certainly showing that he's had enough at bats down in the minors to get the call-up. As of Tuesday, though, he was with his wife who just gave birth to their child.
"What's taken place is his timing, his ability to impact the baseball is starting to show up a little bit more," Farrell said of Castillo. "He's retuned home obviously with the birth of his child, that's going to be a couple of days. Whether or not we allow him to get a game under his belt at Pawtucket before possibly looking at a change here, those are all possibilities. But it's good to see him get back on the field. The timing is there, the ability to impact the baseball, so I guess in the short, he's doing what he can to impact a potential change."
The Sox have been very careful in not rushing Castillo up to the Majors this season, but it feels like now has never been a better time make the move.