Minor Notes: Castillo knocking on the door; Sox sign 13 draft picks

Here are Monday's minor league notes:

• The discussion of Rusney Castillo's hot spring finally made its way to the Boston media airwaves this past week, with many wondering if Castillo (pictured, right) should get called up to play in the majors. Castillo's situation is a little precarious, especially since he isn't on the 40-man roster, meaning the $10.36 million average annual value on his contract doesn't count against the collective bargaining threshold for the Red Sox. But the 30-year-old is hitting .309 this season with four home runs and 33 RBIs, and some think he could do better at the plate than Jackie Bradley Jr. Hunter Noll at BoSox Injection inserted himself into the conversation by asking the same question: Bradley or Castillo?
• Last Thursday, the Red Sox signed first-round draft pick Triston Casas and seven other players, and since then, have inked a total of 13 different draft picks. According to SoxProspects.com Executive Editor Chris Hatfield on Twitter, "with 13 picks signed, Red Sox have spent $4,437.200" with a little over $1.5 million remaining. Second round draft pick Nick Decker is "reportedly getting $1.25M of that, leaving $322,265" for eighth-round pick Elih Marrero, or others. 
• Hatfield also Tweets that "Casas is going to the GCL and [Durbin] Feltman to Lowell. Decker will most certainly go to the GCL when he signs". 
• Michelle Berth over at Over the Monster is one of many people who think Durbin Feltman could make an impact with the Red Sox right away. 

• After the Red Sox received Eric Filia from Seattle as the player to be named later in the Roenis Elias trade last Tuesday, the Red Sox returned Filia back to the Mariners on Friday following a failed physical. The Red Sox instead received cash considerations to complete the deal. Filia was suspended for the first 50 games this season following his second positive test for a drug of abuse but was hitting .391 in 61 at-bats this season at Double-A.
• Highly-touted hurlers Tanner Houck and Joan Martinez have taken their share of lumps with Salem this year, said SoxProspects.com contributing editor James Dunne in Friday's Cup of Coffee, but the duo was excellent last Thursday, missing out on a combined no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning. Houck induced 13 ground ball outs from the 21 batters he faced, striking out three in his six hitless frames while Martinez then got eight more outs before giving up the ninth-inning RBI single.
• Ever lose something but then find it a few months later? Maybe a $20 bill in your jeans pocket or your favorite chapstick? Well, that's kind of what happened with Hatfield and Director of Scouting Ian Cundall when they temporarily misplaced their Spring Training Reports podcast. Luckily, the podcast recently resurfaced, and you can listen to how they gleamed over Jay Groome's performances in spring training (too soon?) but also nailed some early season predictions. Listen here. 
• SoxProspects.com is asking for your help with our annual Donation Drive to help keep our website up and running for another year. Through August 10, we are asking our readers to donate any amount they can to help keep our website free for the public. Click here to learn more and donate.
  
• The Greenville Drive will send three players to the 59th annual South Atlantic League All-Star game on June 19 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Pitchers Kutter Crawford and Denyi Reyes  and outfielder Victor Acosta made the Southern Division team.
• Crawford (pictured, right) has a 2.91 ERA this season, striking out 73 in 68 innings, while Reyes has a 1.85 ERA with 82 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings. Acosta has a .308 average with six home runs and 30 RBIs in 208 at-bats.       
• Former Sox prospect Andrew Benintendi made MLB.com's Top-10 All-Phenom Team with the criteria being that each player had to be at or under the age of 23. 
• Father's Day meant a little more to Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora this year, his first as a big-league manager. Cora lost his father at the age of 13, and Greg Johns of MLB.com explains why Cora always has a tough time on Father's Day.  

Players of the Week

Josh Ockimey, 1B, Portland Sea Dogs
5 G, 18 AB, 7 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K, .389/.450/.667

A 2014 fifth-round draft pick, Josh Ockimey just loves baseball (and saying good morning, apparently). In five games this past week, the 22-year-old accounted for seven runs while inching closer to double-digit home runs (currently at nine) with what ended up being the game-winning run with a solo home run in the fourth inning of Portland's 2-1 win over Bowie on Friday. Dating back to Ockimey's past 10 games, the left-handed hitter has six multi-hit performances and has hit .351 over that span.

Durin O'Linger, RHP, Greenville Drive
2 GS, 12 IP, 1-0, 0.75 ERA, 10 H, 1 BB, 8 K, 0.92 WHIP

Durin O'Linger is wasting no time taking advantage of his opportunity to start on the Greenville staff, as the right-hander didn't get much support last Monday in his first start with the Drive, who lost to the Braves, when he pitched five innings of scoreless ball, allowing five hits and striking out three in a no-decision. On Sunday, the 24-year-old recorded the win with seven strong innings of five-hit ball with five strikeouts. 

Photo Credit: Rusney Castillo and Kutter Crawford courtesy of Kelly O'Connor

Tommy Cassell is a Contributing Editor for SoxProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44.

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