Opinion: The Castillo Dilemmia
Mets 2B Luis Castillo continued his minor-league rehab assignment last night with the Mets Double-A Binghamton affiliate going 2-for-4 with an RBI while playing eight innings in the field.
Castillo is batting .250 in 12 at-bats during his four games with Binghamton.
As Metsblog noted on Monday, Castillo’s 20-day minor-league rehab clock expires today, meaning the Mets may be forced to active Castillo from the disabled list on Thursday.
This presents an interesting dilemma for a team that has seen Argenis Reyes and Damion Easley provide a consistent righty-lefty platoon at the plate and above average defense, while compiling a 28-14 record since Castillo was placed on the disabled list on July 3.
As Cerrone noted in the post above, Jerry Manuel has done a terrific job rewarding players who perform, but Manuel may be forced to play Castillo or risk the chance of having an unhappy, unproductive player in the clubhouse.
My hope is Manuel makes Castillo earn his starting job back through pinch hitting appearances and spot starts, as the two incumbents deserve the majority of the playing time unless Castillo proves otherwise.
The other dilemma the Mets face in activating Castillo is the corresponding roster move that needs to occur. Will the Mets finally relinquish their need to have a third catcher or will they demote the energetic Reyes? Let’s hope the former occurs.
I’ll be interested to see how this plays out as this, along with the bullpen, may effect how this team performs down the stretch.
