RED SOX NOTEBOOK: Castillo to start season in minors
Brian MacPherson Providence Journal
FORT MYERS, Fla. – By the time all is said and done, by the time he plays out a contract that still owes him more than $70 million over the next six seasons, the idea is that Rusney Castillo will have had a productive career in a Red Sox uniform.
If that turns out to be the case, by then the world might have forgotten that Castillo ever was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket out of spring training.
For now, however, it remains jarring to picture Castillo suiting up for Triple-A Pawtucket this season — but he will do just that, having been optioned to the PawSox along with Jackie Bradley Jr. on Thursday afternoon. Bradley and Castillo figure to share duties in center field and right field, biding their time until a job opens up in a crowded Boston outfield.
Castillo hit .310 with a .621 slugging percentage in 29 at-bats in Grapefruit League games after he returned from an oblique injury, but he lost out to Shane Victorino and Allen Craig, two question marks entering the spring who have looked healthy and productive so far.
"From the day he signed until now, he has done everything we've asked him to do," Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said. "He's done everything within his control and only confirmed for us why we signed him in the first place. This is a long-term investment, a long-term proposition, and we expect it to work out very well for him and for the Red Sox. We certainly see him as a major-league player. It's just not going to be on Opening Day in 2015."
A year ago, as a group, the Red Sox had the second-worst outfield in the American League (.669 OPS), ahead of only the Seattle Mariners (.645).
Acquiring Castillo, Craig and Hanley Ramirez as part of their overhaul last year gives the Red Sox a chance to see vastly improved production from their outfielders over a year ago. The depth also covers the team in the event of an extended absence such as the one Victorino endured, the one Carl Crawford endured in 2012 and the one Jacoby Ellsbury endured in 2010.
But having depth often means players who see themselves as major-league-caliber wind up in the minor leagues — or in more limited roles.
A year ago, for example, Daniel Nava was Boston's leadoff hitter on Opening Day. With Craig, he will be a bat off the bench when the Red Sox break camp and head for Philadelphia for Monday's season opener.
Surgery day: Catcher Christian Vazquez underwent Tommy John surgery to replace damaged ligaments on his elbow on Thursday, a procedure that could sideline him for at least 12 months.
Pitchers tend to take 12-18 months to return to their previous form, and Sox manager John Farrell said he expects Vazquez, given the ferocity of the throwing that catchers do, to face a timeline for recovery like that of a pitcher — though likely not quite that long.
"We would take him through a rehab protocol consistent to a pitcher," Farrell said.
Missing an entire year with an elbow injury represents a blow to the development of the defensively gifted Vazquez — and that's assuming his recovery goes as smoothly the team hopes it will.
"The odds of recovery from this surgery are good," Cherington said. "They're not 100 percent, but they're good."
But the Red Sox hope the way Vazquez has played catcher during his climb through the minor leagues en route to the majors — he made his debut in early July last year — is indicative of how he'll attack his rehabilitation.
Farrell suggested that the Red Sox could have Vazquez watch games from the seats behind the plate at Fenway Park at times this season, giving the young catcher a chance to accrue what football players call "mental reps" while on the sidelines.
Though he has not officially been reassigned, veteran catcher Humberto Quintero was told he would not make the team. That clears the way for the newly acquired Sandy Leon to make the team as the second catcher behind Ryan Hanigan.
Quintero will join prospect Blake Swihart at Pawtucket. Swihart, who has just 71 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, figures to serve as the primary catcher for the PawSox.
The pitcher plan: A day after he created some intrigue by hinting that knuckleballer Steven Wright could draw a start at Philadelphia in the first series of the season, Farrell confirmed that Justin Masterson will make that start.
Farrell previously had announced Clay Buchholz and Rick Porcello as his first two starters of the season. Wade Miley will pitch the first game of the series at Yankee Stadium, a lefty who can minimize the dangers caused by the short right-field fence.
Joe Kelly will throw 80 pitches in a simulated game at JetBlue Park on Monday, a start that could line him up to make his regular-season debut five or six days later in New York — but only if he comes through that effort feeling no discomfort in his biceps.
Good showing: Porcello pitched four strong innings to finish his spring, and Mike Napoli hit a titanic two-run homer to pace the Red Sox in a 8-5 win over the Minnesota Twins Thursday night. Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run double in a seven-run sixth inning that lifted Boston to the win.
Porcello escaped unscathed after he allowed runners to reach second and third with no outs in the fourth inning, setting down the next three hitters in order. He finished the spring with a 2.57 ERA in 13 innings pitched, striking out 11 and walking three.
"It really never ends throughout the course of the season," he said. "There's always tweaking and maintenance to be done. But I feel good about the foundation being built this spring and ready to go."