Phillies flying a bit under the radar? ‘Freeing place to play baseball,’ Castellanos says originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
CLEARWATER, Fla. — For just over a week after the season ended, Nick Castellanos saw it all. He heard how the Phillies’ early playoff exit was being discussed on talk radio and “in the media” — they’re chokers, they aren’t good enough, the window is closing — but his reaction probably wasn’t what you’d expect.
It didn’t piss him off. In a way, it was liberating.
“I do think we have less pressure as a team this year, especially with everything the media said about us when we lost last year and we didn’t really go out and make any crazy changes,” Castellanos said. “So if we lose, you guys look smart, which is dope, right? But then if we win, it’s like a happy surprise.
“It’s kind of a freeing place to play baseball, know what I mean?”
Castellanos described most of the reaction as wildly negative, which was accurate and not atypical for a rabid fanbase that expected so much more after two deep playoff runs and a 95-win regular season.
He’s a pragmatic guy, not the type to make a bold proclamation in response. Talk is cheap compared to the actual grind of 162 and beyond.
“I wouldn’t say that (because) we ended bad, we didn’t win, so now I’m on a revenge tour to prove everybody wrong and give everybody the middle finger. That’s not really my personality,” Castellanos said. “Baseball is hard and the Mets were hot and they beat us. I know that I personally have put in work to put myself in position to be ready to play and compete. I’m excited for the opportunity. That’s the only thing I can control.
“I don’t know if we’re going to go deep in October. I don’t know any of that. All I know is we need to stay healthy, prepare in spring training and get ready for the season. That’s so far down the road.”
This is Year 4 of 5 under contract for Castellanos, who will earn $20 million this season and next. He was previously represented by agent Scott Boras but now represents himself. He made the decision last summer and spoke with Boras when the Phillies were at Dodger Stadium in August.
“It’s not like I’m against having an agent. I just think where it was with Scott, I was at a point I wanted the opportunity to speak for myself,” Castellanos said. “I have no malice toward the Boras organization at all. I texted him congrats when that (Juan) Soto contract came out. He’s very good at what he does. But as far as right now, anything that pertains to my career, I’d rather just have that conversation with my employer.”
Castellanos had that direct conversation with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski during the offseason when his name popped up again in trade rumors.
“I just asked Dave if any of it was true and he said no,” Castellanos said. “I have friends that are in the media and they told me things that they’ll just make up stories to have something to talk about so, you know, I went straight to the horse’s mouth and he told me that wasn’t true.
“I think that I’m just more comfortable now that I don’t feel intimidated to go to anybody who is employing me to go ask questions about my status or well-being. When you’re younger and all you know is having an agent, you can feel intimidated, or you’re not supposed to go to the general manager of the team and ask questions on your behalf. You’d have to go through your legal representation to go and talk to them because the one-on-one could be, ‘Oh, don’t do that.’ I’m past that.”
Castellanos has hit .263/.309/.435 in his three years as a Phillie with averages of 31 doubles, 22 home runs and 85 RBI. His OPS as a Phillie has been .744 compared to .853 the previous six seasons.
There have been peaks and valleys for a notoriously streaky player. The best example might be his 2023 postseason. Castellanos was 10-for-27 with two doubles and five home runs in the Phillies’ first seven playoff games. Then he went 0-for-20 with 10 strikeouts as the Phillies dropped four of their next six and were eliminated by the Diamondbacks.
Castellanos went on to play all 162 games in 2024 and was probably the Phils’ best bat in the NLDS loss to the Mets, going 7-for-17 with a double, homer and three RBI.
Despite the heaviest workload of his career, Castellanos still entered the offseason healthy. It didn’t take long for the itch to return.
“I felt pretty good after the end of the year. I rolled right into my workouts pretty early,” he said. “Every winter’s different. This winter I was excited to get back. Never really took much time off preparing and training. I’m happy to be back in Clearwater.”
Manager Rob Thomson talked to Castellanos about playing all 162 on Opening Day last year and it became a personal goal for the right fielder. This year, his focus isn’t specifically on that number but more so being as healthy and consistent as possible.
He also realizes that there will be attention whenever he does finally sit.
“Maybe, because it will become a story and I’m getting asked questions about it right now in spring training so it will become a thing,” he said with a smile. “Sure, it could get more challenging, I guess, to take a day but I really doubt I’m competing with Cal Ripken for the most all-time so I’m not gonna be too stressed out about it whenever that day is.
“I’m just excited that my work has continued to be consistent throughout the end of last year until now. I’m happy that I’m 32 years old and feel really good, and I’m excited to be able to play on another baseball team that has a chance of winning.”
