Nick Castellanos’s first season in Philadelphia has not gone as anyone hoped it would. As of now, he has the lowest season Slugging percentage since his rookie season. He has hit only 9 home runs and has a sub .700 OPS for the first time ever in his career. We knew he was a lousy fielder. He lived up to that with a -12 total runs saved. We did not expect the bat to be this bad. This combined with him ruffling some feathers with the local media has led to his reputation taking a hit around here. But yesterday, he came up very big to help the team win, with a game-winning two-run shot to center field. And no one was happier than his teammates.
“It was electric because everyone is pulling for him. They know what he’s gone through and they know that he cares and so they care about him. It was really neat.”- Rob Thomson after the game
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It was Nick Castellanos’s first HR since the end of June. His bomb was the key moment in a 3-1 win over the Braves. He has actually been hitting well of late. Castellanos has an OPS of .949. And the strikeout rate is down to just 13.2% in that time, after being up at 24.9% the rest of the season.
“Nick’s a really good hitter. He’s just struggled a little, but I think people exaggerate it more than it is. He’s been a pretty solid hitter for us if you really look at it. It was nice to see him get that home run in a big spot.”- Zack Wheeler
The Phillies added Brandon Marsh, Noah Syndergaard, and David Robertson at the trade deadline. They have Jean Segura and eventually Bryce Harper coming back from injury. But an underrated addition for the final two months may be Nick Castellanos waking up. If he could turn into the player they thought they were getting when they signed him, this could be a very good team. Yesterday was a good start.