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Thinking a breakout is close, Rob Thomson continues to pencil Nick Castellanos into Phillies lineup

Nick Castellanos is off to a slow start in 2024. (Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire)

If you just looked at the box score from Friday night’s Philadelphia Phillies victory over the Chicago White Sox, you would think it was another frustrating night for Nick Castellanos, who went 0-for-3 as his ice-cold April continued.

However, Castellanos drove two balls deep in the outfield, even if they were ultimately caught. He shown enough in recent days — even as his batting average dropped to .153 — to convince manager Rob Thomson that continuing to pencil him into the lineup is going to pay off soon.

“I think he’s started to loft some balls in the last week, and that’s a good sign,” Thomson said. “It’s always a good sign for me with the power guys. Just keep running them out there.”

Make no mistake, it’s been a very ugly start to Castellanos’ third season with the Phillies. Castellanos has an unsightly .371 OPS, a mark where only Victor Scott and Carlos Santana have been worse. The two-time All-Star’s -1.0 WAR is the worst mark among qualified players currently. As Just Baseball‘s Leo Morgenstern noted, Castellanos is the only qualified player in baseball without an extra-base hit currently.

Castellanos’ early-season struggles have been put under the microscope more than they otherwise would because they’ve come to open the campaign rather than in the middle of the year, in Thomson’s estimation.

“Nick is an experienced guy and he’s been through this before and just, at the start of the season it gets magnified,” Thomson added.

Castellanos is a player who typically prefers to try to play through struggles, as opposed to having a couple days off to reset. So far, he’s been the starting right fielder in all 20 games. Thomson thinks that Castellanos would be honest with him about needing an off day if it comes to that, but there does seem to be a genuine belief that Castellanos is getting close.

And the Phillies know that if they’re going to make a World Series run in 2024, Castellanos — the primary source of right-handed power in the lineup — needs to get going.