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.

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.

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.

Citizens Bank Park hosted one of its most memorable series of the 2024 season. Phillies Alumni Weekend attracted fans of all ages to see former president and CEO David Montgomery posthumously join the Wall of Fame.

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The legends from different eras attended the weekend festivities during a series against the Washington Nationals. Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton highlighted the star-studded list of champions from the franchise’s first World Series in 1980.

Carlos Ruiz and Brad Lidge kicked off the celebrations on Friday night before most of their former teammates got to the ballpark for their appearances.

Ballpark regulars like Larry Bowa, Charlie Manuel, and John Kruk also got a rise out of the crowd, as always.

The 20th anniversary of Citizens Bank Park’s inaugural season provided the perfect opportunity to honor David Montgomery. Sunday’s pregame ceremony and the entire weekend flawlessly highlighted the legacy of a proud organization.

The weekend started with a bang. Carlos Ruiz received a special gift from the Phillies organization, home plate from Wrigley Field on the day in 2015 when he became the second catcher in MLB history to catch four no-hitters.

Ruiz reversed roles with 2008 World Series teammate Brad Lidge on the ceremonial first pitch on Friday night. Lidge joked about returning the favor to his former battery mate.

The Panamanian backstop played 1069 regular-season games in 11 seasons with the Phillies from 2006-2016. Señor Octubre also caught 46 playoff games for some of the best teams in franchise history.

97.5 The Fanatic Instagram: Carlos Ruiz Throws Ceremonial First Pitch To Brad Lidge

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.

Phillies fans stepping through the gates at Citizens Bank Park enter David Montgomery’s living legacy. His vision to move the team from Veterans Stadium led to a new era in franchise history.

He’s credited with a unique ballpark dimension that now bears his name. The left-center field wall at Citizens Bank Park has produced some crazy bounces over the years.

None were more memorable than J.T. Realmuto’s inside-the-park home run in Game 4 of the NLDS in 2022.

Former Phillies center fielder and fellow Penn graduate Doug Glanville unveiled the new name.

The Phillies asked three alumni to change the bases after the third inning on Saturday as part of Wall of Fame Night. It felt fitting that Jim Thome took first and Juan Samuel took second.

Manny Trillo played along and took third base, where he shifted at some points during his career although he played second for the 1980 World Champions. Nice touch.

The Phillies treated fans with an up close and personal look at the existing Wall of Fame inductees.

The franchise legends processed through the left field gate at Citizens Bank Park just steps shy of Ashburn Alley in front of a screaming audience about two hours before Cristopher Sanchez threw the first pitch on Saturday.

Fans who arrived early saw legends of all different eras. Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, and Greg Luzinski were among the stars who lit up the eyes of the older generation who watched the World Series in 1980.

Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu provided a trip down memory lane to the earliest years of Citizens Bank Park.

Charlie Manuel and Pat Gillick brought the entire crowd back to the Golden Era of Phillies baseball from 2007-2011.

97.5 The Fanatic Instagram: Legends Process Into Citizens Bank Park

The organization wrapped up the weekend festivities with a pregame ceremony on Sunday. All alumni in attendance marched out of the dugout on a memorable afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

PhanaVision showed some of the career highlights of players who have made an impact on the long history of the Phillies, the longest single-name, single-city franchise in North American professional sports.

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.  

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