Rusney Castillo has debuted in the big leagues. He jumped intothe grass of PNC Parkin Pittsburgh to play center field for the Boston Red Sox after a long wait.The premiere ofthe Cuban wasnot extraordinary, asappallingas otherCubans´, as Soler(recently) orPuig,but more importantly, at least for him, is that after so muchhype andso much paraphernaliaafter signingthe largest contractof aCubanin MajorLeagueBaseball (MLB), he has already succeeded in breaking thecellophaneand canbegin to weavehis own story.
With the38on his back, numberthat onmemorable timesinthe franchise was worn by legendary right-handerCurtSchilling, Castillo hadone hitin fourat-bats.In his first appearanceathome platehe foundFrancisco Liriano as his rivalwhoforced him tohita harmlesstrapper thatstood in frontof the catcher who had him out at first. Afterthefirst failure, he came back and hit a hard drive that second basemanmanaged stop butRusney was safeat firsttobe accreditedwith his firstmajor leaguehit. Thenheflied out to centerand in the last at bat he grounded out toshortstop.
Some say he fell to the pressure of the debut; that from today his work will always be under scrutiny of the explosive performance of his countrymen. What a task! Although all his statements indicate otherwise “it will not affect how I will face my games, it’s obvious that I admire and respect those players who have had success here but I will not use it to measure my success.”
For John Farrell, Red Sox mentor, the Cuban “is an electrifying player with many skills, the goal for the games he is involved, is to experience the atmosphere. We have a small analysis about what his strengths and limitations are, but that’s an initial look. We are still at the stage of familiarization. Any judgment on my part is reserved until we have the chance to see him some more. ”
Rusney had spent his last three weeks in the minor league circuit of Boston where he went 12 for 41 in 11 games with four doubles, five RBIs, seven runs, five walks, two stolen bases and nine strikeouts.
After his debut with the Red Sox the Cuban said: “I am very pleased with my first game. Sure, I’d like a better result, but I’m very happy with my performance. “
