PITTSBURGH -- Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell said that Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo will play center field and bat seventh on Wednesday night in his major league debut.
Castillo, who signed the biggest contract ever for a Cuban player, will debut at PNC Park when the Red Sox take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Farrell confirmed his lineup spot in his weekly interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI on Wednesday afternoon.
"He's an electric player with a lot of skills -- he's explosive, quick-twitch," Farrell said Tuesday. "We're looking forward to seeing him in this park."
The 27-year-old Castillo signed a seven-year, $72.5 million deal with the Red Sox on Aug. 23 and progressed through three levels of the Red Sox minor-league system after making his pro debut six days later.
On Tuesday night, he was in Charlotte, N.C., with the Pawtucket Red Sox, winners of the International League, who played the Omaha Storm Chasers, champions of the Pacific Coast League, in the Triple-A title game.
Castillo, who was playing center field and batting first for the PawSox, led off the game with a home run, his first as a U.S. professional.
Castillo is not expected to play in all 11 of the games that will be left on the Red Sox schedule after he arrives. Farrell noted he has other center fielders on the roster who will rotate into the lineup.
"I think the goal going in right now, for the games he's on the field, is for him to just experience this," Farrell said. "We've got a little read on him right now, on where his strengths and limitations might be, but that's just an initial view. We're still in the getting familiar stage of all of this. Any judgment on my part is reserved until we get a chance to see him more."
Castillo had 41 at-bats in the Red Sox minor-league system. He went 1-for-5 with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox (a rookie entry league), 5-for-14 with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs and 6-for-22 with Pawtucket, hitting two doubles, walking three times, scoring three times and stealing a base.