Nick Castellanos Got More Slack Than Any Phillies Player

The Nick Castellanos era in Philadelphia is over. In truth, it has been over for a while. The Phillies tried desperately to trade him for 2 straight off-seasons. Between his underperforming the $100 million contract they gave him, and a now infamous incident in Miami, the writing was on the wall.

Everyone in the league knew Castellanos would not be in Philly this year. After they could not find a trade, the Phillies decided they would rather eat the $20 million than keep him on the team.

Matt Gelb wrote a terrific piece on the reason for this split. He went into detail on the many reasons why the clubhouse turned against him. This is not about that, but about a specific comment by Nick Castellanos in his handwritten letter. He accused Rob Thomson of "giving too much slack in some areas and too tight of restrictions in others."

The rich part of that statement is that before the Miami incident, Nick Castellanos got more slack from Thomson than any player on the team.

Let's go back to a year before the Miami incident. Castellanos was in the middle of a season where he played 162 games. His final slash line that season was a solid .254/.311/.431/.742. But those stats do not tell the story.

Castellanos was near unplayable for the first two months. His slash line stood at just .198/.264/.309/.573 after a 0-for-4 game on May 27th vs the Giants. That is 56 games. 56 games of play that would get most players benched. But he still played every single day.

Castellanos made it a goal going into 2024 to play every single day. Rob Thomson obliged him that goal. Even while Castellanos gave them nothing at the plate, and was one of the worst Right Fielders in baseball, Thomson still played him every game.

That carried into 2025. Before Rob Thomson pulled him for Johan Rojas in Miami, Thomson never sat Castellanos, never even took him out of the game for defensive purposes. He sent him out there every night despite benching or platooning several other players on the team.

No other player got that kind of treatment. Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Trea Turner all had days off. Castellanos was the only player with the guarantee that he would play every day. Even after the Miami incident, he got benched for 1 game, and then played in 30 straight before the Phillies eventually turned RF into a platoon.

Castellanos is right. Thomson did give too much slack in some areas. That area is specifically Castellanos. Thomson gave him more leash than he earned. He gave Castellanos star treatment when he never played like one. Thomson showed Castellnaos the grace to play every day, even while he was mired in struggles. He protected Nick, even when accoridng to Matt Gelb's report, he did little to endear himself in that lockeroom.

Nick Castellanos got more slack than anyone on that team. Most other managers would have benched him long ago. Few would allow Castellanos to play every day while he batted below the Mendoza line for over 60 games.

Thomson gave Castellanos star treatment. The fact that Castellanos was evidently so dismissive of Rob, and according to Gelb's article, never showed Thomson respect because Thomson never played in the league, leaves Castellanos looking like the villain here. If Thomson treated players equally, Castellanos would have benched a long time ago.