Castellanos hits 250th career HR as he adjusts to platoon role with Phillies

PHOENIX -- Nick Castellanos wants to control the narrative.

He certainly controlled it on Friday night at Chase Field.

He hit the 250th home run of his career in the eighth inning in the Phillies’ 8-2 victory over the Diamondbacks. He delivered a run-scoring single in the ninth. He did these things after coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning.

It was the first time in Castellanos’ career that he had two or more RBIs in a game coming off the bench.

“I’m here to do whatever I can to make sure that Philadelphia wins a World Series ring,” Castellanos said. “So whatever that goal looks like, just do the best I can with that.”

Castellanos will do it differently. He is no longer an everyday player for the Phillies. He is a platoon player in right field with Max Kepler.

It’s not a job that Castellanos wants. But it is the job that he has. It means adjustments.

"It's still like brand new, right?" he said. "Like, I'm just making stuff up as I go along. Some days I don't do anything. Some days I go out for batting practice. It's just kind of how I feel."

Asked how disappointed he is not to be playing every day, Castellanos said, “That’s a controversial question, so I’m going to skip that.”

Castellanos is batting .255 with 17 home runs, 69 RBIs and a .710 OPS this season. He is batting .213 with seven homers, 24 RBIs and a .606 OPS since the beginning of July. He got benched for a game in Miami in mid-June because he said something offensive to manager Rob Thomson after he pulled him late in a game for defense.

Castellanos gradually moved into a platoon role after the All-Star break.

Asked if he understands why he hasn’t been playing as much recently, Castellanos said, “I don’t really talk to Rob all that often. So that’s just, I play whenever he tells me to play and then I sit whenever he tells me to sit. … Communication over the years has been questionable, at least in my experience. But also I grew up communicating with somebody like my father, which is very blunt, direct and consistent.”

It was a surprising comment, considering one of Thomson’s strengths since he became Phillies manager in June 2022 has been communicating with his players.

“Who says that?” Castellanos said.

Players that have been here the past four years, mostly.

“It’s just been times where things have been said, and then over the course of years I’ll have expectations because I’ll latch onto what’s being said and then actions would be different and then I’m just kind of left, you know, thinking and whatnot,” Castellanos said. “But again, it is what it is. Adapt, do what I can. At the end of the day, we’re here to win a World Series.”

Thomson and Castellanos met on Saturday afternoon in the manager’s office at Chase Field. Thomson declined to discuss the specifics of the conversation. Generally, however, he addressed the alleged lack of communication.

“As far as the communication part of it, not only Nick, but anybody else in that clubhouse that doesn’t think I’m communicating enough with them, I’m probably not,” Thomson said. “I gotta do a better job. That’s just being accountable. But there’s two ways of communicating, and that door is always open. And I’m not a mind reader. I can’t tell the future. I’m not a mind reader. So, I urge players. I want players to come in here and tell me what’s on their mind. But yeah, obviously, I have to do a better job.”

Asked if he is unhappy, Castellanos said, “I’m here. We won a baseball game. You know, I hit my 250th. I have a good relationship with the guys in this clubhouse.”

And he’s going to do what it takes to help the team win a World Series.

“I’m here to win,” he said. “John Middleton is paying me money so I can help the Philadelphia Phillies win a World Series.”

Castellanos certainly has the talent and the track record to change the narrative of his 2025 season, whether he feels it is unfairly portrayed or not. He might not be starting every game of the postseason, but he will have opportunities to make his mark, just like he made his mark on Friday. Just like he made his mark in the 2023 NLDS, when he hit four homers with a 1.796 OPS against the Braves.

He is batting .323 (10-for-31) with a .901 OPS in 10 games in September. Maybe it is a sign of things to come.

“I mean, I think anything that I do more often, I’ll get better at it for sure,” Castellanos said. “Anytime I step into the box, there’s a chance that something good can happen.”

But the way the season is playing out, it’s more than fair to wonder about Castellanos’ future in Philadelphia. He is in the fourth year of a five-year, $100 million contract. The Phillies have reportedly discussed moving him each of the past two offseasons, although Castellanos said Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told him those reports weren’t true.

“I show up tomorrow and play a game against the Diamondbacks,” Castellanos said. “That’s my future.”

But beyond that? Does he think about next year?

“Why would I do that in front of what we have ahead of us?” Castellanos said. “That would be really selfish and take away from what we’re trying to do as a group.”