Nick Castellanos walked over to the Phillies backdrop in the middle of the clubhouse after Tuesday night’s win over the Houston Astros to meet with the media. He did so while wearing his CP Rankin Roofing hat. And, of course, he breathed new life into the postgame conversation.
The always-thoughtful right fielder hit a three-run home run out of the No. 5 spot in the lineup Tuesday night against future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. It was the most crucial moment in an eventual 5-0 win, the fourth victory in a row for the Phillies.
Castellanos, who has seen significant time hitting out of the six and seven holes this year, was asked whether it’s important to him to hit in the heart of the order.
“So, is it important to me? It’s not important in a sense of like selfish,” a shirtless Castellanos explained. “But knowing that my style of hitting … which is always like glorified batting practice, right? … I don’t really have an approach, I look for the baseball and hit it as hard as I can … having protection behind me usually forces the pitcher to throw to me more.
“If I’m on, let’s say, the cliff of the lineup where the power starts to drop off,” Castellanos continued, “now the approach is like ‘We don’t have to throw this guy a strike.’ You know? That’s hard for me because I don’t think I’ve ever gone to the plate looking to walk.”
While that might have been the most entertaining answer from Castellanos Tuesday night, there was still plenty of other worthwhile quotes postgame.
Castellanos got off to an ice-cold start in 2024, and ultimately hit just .239 with a .670 OPS in the first half of the season. However, since the All-Star Break, Castellanos has been arguably the best hitter on the Phillies, having hit .281 with nine home runs, 31 RBIs and an .862 OPS.
Manager Rob Thomson said that Castellanos has worked extremely hard to put himself in position to hit higher in the lineup.
“Well you gotta earn it first, and he’s earned it,” Thomson said. “So, that’s just the way it works.”
Regardless of where or how Castellanos has hit this year, he’s always been in the lineup. As we noted earlier this month, Castellanos has started all 132 games for the Phillies. He’s 30 games away from becoming the first Phillie since 2007 to start all 162 games in the regular season. Playing 162 is a goal Thomson put on his radar back in late March.
“Well, I think we were in Cincinnati, and I think I was probably hitting under .100 at the time. And the question at that point in time was ‘Do you need a couple days off to clear your head or whatever’,” Castellanos recalled.
“And Thomper told me Opening Day after our batting practice [he] said ‘162?’ And I just pointed back at him and nodded my head. And then for me to get off to a slow start and then for him to stick to his word, as a player, now I know where he’s at. And I think that from a coaching standpoint, trust is the biggest thing that you can have for your players.”
Castellanos made clear after one of his biggest performances of the season how appreciative he is in the trust that Thomson has put in him.
“When I got that question in the Cincinnati locker room of like ‘How important is it that a manager has your back?’ For sure [it’s important],” Castellanos said. “Because if you don’t feel like a manager has your back, that’s pretty uninspiring to lace up your cleats for.”
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