Rusney Castillo made an emphatic return to the Boston Red Sox.
Castillo, who suffered a strained oblique in the Red Sox’s March 3 exhibition game against Boston College, came off the bench Friday in an 11-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at JetBlue Park. The outfielder launched a three-run homer in the seventh inning.
The blast to left-center field temporarily put the Red Sox in front 5-3. Boston then surrendered eight runs over the final two innings, resulting in the club’s second straight spring training defeat.
Castillo’s home run came in his only at-bat of the contest. It also happened to be his first-ever Grapefruit League at-bat, as the Cuban slugger, who signed a seven-year, $72.5 million contract with Boston last August, had been held out of major league competition since suffering his injury.
“I was obviously happy it turned out to be a home run,” Castillo told reporters in Fort Myers, Fla. “More than anything, I was just happy that I was able to out there completely healthy and pain-free and felt really good out there. It’s really good to be back out there.”
Castillo played in minor league games Wednesday and Thursday. He replaced Mookie Betts in center field in the top of the seventh inning Friday before crushing his go-ahead homer in the home half of the frame. Castillo is expected to start in center field for Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“For his first at-bat in spring training, he stepped in and made a pretty quick impression,” Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters.
It’s unclear whether Castillo will start the season with Boston, as the Red Sox could send him to the minors for a variety of reasons. But Castillo’s big swing Friday showed he might not be all that far behind.
In fact, Castillo seems ready to go.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@RedSox
