Rusney Castillo day-to-day with hand injury in Arizona Fall League

In an effort to get some additional at bats for highly-touted Cuban import Rusney Castillo this year, the Red Sox have placed him in the Arizona Fall League. Unfortunately, the fall league portion of Castillo’s year have been hampered by a recent injury.

Castillo, a member of the Arizona Fall League’s Surprise Saguaros, left a game on Monday after jamming his left thumb during an at bat. He is currently listed as day-to-day with a bruised left hand and thumb and has not played since Monday. Considering the “day-to-day” listing and the relatively benign nature of his injury, however, it’s unlikely that Castillo will miss much more time with this injury.

The Red Sox assigned Castillo to the Saguaros due to the fact that, before his brief tenure with the Red Sox organization, he had not played organized baseball in Cuba since 2012. That layover did not appear to affect Castillo’s first stint with the Red Sox as he slashed .333/.400/.528 with 2 home runs and 3 stolen bases in just 10 games at the Major League level, but his playing in the offseason should better prepare him for the rigors of the Major League season. According to John Farrell, the Red Sox expect Castillo to accrue roughly 200 at bats between the Arizona Fall League and winter baseball in Puerto Rico this offseason.

Playing through minor injuries is a part of withstanding everyday play in the Major Leagues and this shouldn’t have a significant effect on Castillo’s future performance. He’ll still likely finish out the majority of the Arizona Fall League season and hopefully acclimate to playing everyday. A good all-around center fielder is a big piece for a contending team and Castillo has the ability to be that and more going forward, but as exciting as Castillo is, don’t worry about this little injury.