It is Time To Give Nick Castellanos The Respect He Deserves
No player was worse than Nick Castellanos over the 1st couple of months this season. His OBP was under .300 in both April and May. In April he hit .193, and even in May it was still under .240, without much power. It got so bad some Phillies fans were willing to completely give up on him. It goes along with his struggles in 2022, and his disappearance in the NLCS last year.
But those sour grapes might be preventing some fans from recognizing how great Castellanos has been since then. From June until now, you can make the case he has been their most consistent hitter.
Yet, we still don’t hear much praise for him. I still even hear some hate, which is why I am writing this. While he is a flawed baseball player and has certainly has his issues, it is time Nick Castellanos gets the praise he deserves.
Nick Castellanos’s Numbers Since June
Since June 1st, his slash line is .281/.327/.484/.831. He has 80 total hits, including 11 HRs and 21 doubles. That includes 47 RBIs and 44 runs. Mind you in that same period, there were long periods of struggle for guys like Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber. More so the first two, than the last one. But Nick was as steady as it gets.
That OPS is better than anyone on this team apart from Harper and Schwarber over that time. But Castellanos didn’t have the elongated cold streaks those guys had. They had higher peaks, There were few people in baseball better than Harper in June, but they also had lower slumps. Castellanos, with all the talk of him being streaky, had a Slugging Percentage of at least .480 in all 3 months.
Nick Castellanos A More Patient Hitter? Kind Of
He is even doing better at the thing most people consider his biggest weakness, i.e. swinging at bad pitches. He is still bad at that. He will always be bad at that. Being over-aggressive is who he is. But the whiff rate is down from 35.4% to 30.1%. His chase rate is down from 41% to 38.2%. Even his Walk rate is up a bit from 5.4% to 5.9%
Those are small improvements. He is still rated poorly in all those categories. But any improvement is an improvement. He went from being one of the worst in the league in all those categories, to just being bad. That little improvement is likely why we have seen him be more consistent these past few months.
Is Nick Castellanos the guy they thought they were signing a couple of years ago? No. He has not gotten back to his form with the Reds where he garnered MVP consideration. But he is also not being paid like that. He is being paid to be a piece on the team, which is exactly what he is. A solid hitter, and also for what it’s worth, a solid right fielder.
He gets $20 million per year. It makes him the 15th highest-paid outfielder. Which makes him still a bit overpaid, but not by that much. There are far worse contracts in the league, for guys who don’t contribute at all. Nick Castellanos is probably their 5th best hitter. They are a better team with him, than without him, despite many fans wanting him gone.
So give the guy the respect he deserves. He has earned some love from the fans for what he has down the last 3 months.
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8 Highlights Of Phillies Alumni Weekend
David Montgomery On The Wall Of Fame
Former Phillies President and CEO David Montgomery joined the Phillies Wall of Fame posthumously on Saturday night.
Montgomery spent 48 years in various roles within the organization, rising into the executive ranks during the 1990s. He passed away in 2019 after a five-year battle with cancer.
His wife Lyn Montgomery and his daughter Susa McFall attended the festivities on David’s behalf.
The Phillies alumni in attendance lauded Montgomery for the family atmosphere he created within the organization. The Roxborough native built a reputation for his inclusion of all ballpark staff, from star outfielders to security guards and from starting pitchers to elevator attendants.
Mike Schmidt spoke about Montgomery after the Wall of Fame ceremony.
“I think David was a big link to the city itself. Man of the people might be putting it too mildly, but David Montgomery was a man of the people.” -Mike Schmidt
Series Victory Over The Nationals
The Phillies didn’t forget there was a series to play. They had hit their low point of the 2024 season after a 5-0 embarrassment against the Miami Marlins on the first game of the homestand on Tuesday.
They’ve recovered nicely by salvaging the split against the Fish and pounding the inferior Nationals in a commanding weekend series win that made the franchise legends proud.
Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Cristopher Sanchez regained the form that helped the Phillies off to a hot start to gain control of the National League East. A loss on Sunday snapped a four-game winning streak, but they’ll hit the road now to face stronger opponents in the Atlanta Braves and the Kansas City Royals.
Full List Of Phillies Alumni Attendees
Circa 1980: Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Greg Luzinski, Larry Bowa, Bob Boone, Bob Wine, Manny Trillo, Juan Samuel, Ron Reed, Dickie Noles, Gary Matthews, Garry Maddox, Steve Jeltz, Greg Gross
Circa 1993: John Kruk, Milt Thompson, Tommy Greene, Larry Andersen, Ruben Amaro Jr., Kevin Stocker, Jeff Manto
Circa 2004 Jim Thome, Bobby Abreu, Mike Lieberthal, Brandon Duckworth
Circa 2008: Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz, Charlie Manuel, Pat Gillick, Brad Lidge, Jamie Moyer, Joe Blanton, Ryan Madson, Aaron Rowand, Erik Kratz, Kevin Frandsen
Local Alumni: Mark Leiter Sr., Greg Legg, Art Mahaffey, Ramon Henderson, Terry Harmon, Gene Garber, Doug Clemens, John Briggs, Howie Bedell
