BOSTON -- Hanley Ramirez took ground balls at first base before batting practice Monday. That was planned.

Alejandro De Aza was also taking ground balls at first base. That was not planned. He was doing that on his own, according to interim manager Torey Lovullo.

Ramirez, who did not play in the team’s three-game series against the New York Mets, was not in the lineup for a fourth straight game Monday with what the club is calling right shoulder fatigue. The left fielder was 2-for-28 (.071) in the seven games previous to being shut down, and has not hit a home run in 29 games, the second longest single-season streak of his career, eclipsed only by a 35-game homerless streak in 2006, his rookie season with Miami.

Ramirez has not been on the disabled list this season, but Monday will be the 26th game in which he has not played. He has had issues with his left shoulder, left hand and left foot as well as the right shoulder.

With Ramirez out, the Sox have had a chance to look at their young outfielders -- Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo -- although Lovullo started De Aza in consecutive games in New York. Monday night is the deadline for waiver deals in which a player would be eligible to appear on a team’s postseason roster, so it’s possible De Aza could be on the move again, the way he was last Aug. 30 when he went from the White Sox to the Orioles in a waiver deal.

Monday night will be only the eighth time the Bradley/Betts/Castillo combination has started a game this season. The Sox are 3-4 in their previous seven starts.

All three outfielders have put up big numbers since Castillo and Bradley were recalled from Pawtucket. Castillo, who was recalled July 27, has played in 26 games (22 starts), and has posted a .348/.381/.554/.936 slash line with four home runs and 19 RBIs. Bradley, recalled on July 29, has posted a .302/.384/.640/1.023 slash line in 28 games (25 starts), with five home runs, eight doubles, three triples and 24 RBIs. Betts missed 11 games with a concussion, but dating back to July 27 has posted a .315/.333/.494/.828 slash line with six doubles, two triples and two home runs.

The performance of Bradley and Castillo evidently persuaded new president of baseball operations David Dombrowski that he was looking at next year’s starting outfield, because it was on his orders that the Red Sox commenced the Ramirez-to-first-base exercise.

A couple of Twitter users suggested "The BBC" as a nickname for the Betts, Bradley, Castillo combination, perhaps because their range in the field is suggestive of the British broadcasting corporation, which of course spans the globe.