PAWTUCKET — Rusney Castillo is a man in limbo.

The 27-year-old outfielder is the highest paid Cuban player in history. But yet, he finds himself in Triple-A, and his path to the big leagues appears to be blocked.

Castillo returned from the disabled list as the designated hitter for Pawtucket last night in the PawSox’ 5-1 loss to the Syracuse Chiefs. He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in his first game action since he injured his right shoulder April 11.

PawSox manager Kevin Boles said the plan is to slot Castillo at DH for now and slowly ease him back into outfield play. He also said there’s no timeline for Castillo’s return to Boston.

“It’s day to day to see how he responds initially,” Boles said. “We don’t have a timetable at this point. We’re just trying to keep him healthy.”

Staying healthy has been an issue for Castillo over the last several months. After returning from a near two-year layoff following his defection, a right thumb contusion cut his time in the Arizona Fall League short, and an oblique strain forced him to miss more than two weeks in spring training.

It seemed as if Castillo was attempting to regain his rhythm last night after an 18-day stay on the DL. He grounded out twice, and struck out swinging with a man on second base in the fourth inning. He did make strong contact in his final at-bat, as he laced a long flyout to left-center field in the ninth inning.

Castillo said he considered it a positive night even though he went hitless.

“I felt really good,” Castillo said through a translator, teammate Neo Ramirez. “Even though I had two or three weeks off, I felt like I hadn’t missed much time.”

Boles said he doesn’t know how long Castillo will be in Pawtucket, but he’s happy to have him for however long his minor league stint lasts.

“He’s a talented player — we liked what we saw last year and certainly loved what we saw this year in spring training. We’re just looking to get him game experience and hopefully we can keep him on the field.”

In the meantime, Castillo will continue to wait.

When he has played, he’s showed why the Red Sox chose to invest more than $70 million in him. He posted a .928 OPS and hit two home runs in 40 plate appearances after being a late-season call-up last September and this spring went 5-for-12 in three games for the PawSox before injuring his shoulder earlier this month.

But playing time is currently hard to come by in the Red Sox outfield. Brock Holt has played well in the absence of Shane Victorino, who is eligible to come off the DL on May 8. Daniel Nava and Allen Craig are both still with the big league club as well.

It doesn’t seem to be a question of whether Castillo is a big leaguer. Who goes to make room for him in a crowded outfielde, however, is more difficult to answer.