Nick Castellanos, after hitting deja vu home run, candidly reflects on struggles at the plate
Nick Castellanos came up to bat with a runner on and two outs in the top of the eighth inning. The Phillies were down two runs against the Braves in Atlanta looking to salvage a series split. J.T. Realmuto was on base after beating out a double play ball. It was Aug. 3, 2022 and the Phillies were a day removed from a productive trade deadline that netted them the finishing touches on an eventual pennant-winning club.
June 30, 2022 marked the last time Castellanos homered in a game at that point. His streak without a home run reached 113 plate appearances, the longest of his career.
With the count 2-0, Castellanos pounced on a hanging slider from Collin McHugh and drilled it over the center field fence to score two and put the Phillies on top.
An inning later, new acquisition David Robertson picked up his first save as a Phillie. The win capped off a 4-1 roadtrip. The Phillies left Atlanta with positive vibes and sole possession of the final wild card spot. It kicked off a seven-game winning streak. The Phillies’ previous five-game winning streak was snapped the previous night in a 13-1 blowout loss.
“We still haven’t clicked on all cylinders yet, and we’re in contention. We’re a playoff team,” Castellanos told reporters after the Braves game.
Fast forward nearly a year later and Castellanos and the Phillies found themselves in an eerily similar situation. Castellanos finished the month of July with a .162/.194/.303 slash line. His .497 OPS in July was the lowest in a single month for his career. The Phillies were 57-49 and had the second-best record among a crowded field of National League wild card contenders.
Castellanos badly needed to crush a hanger over the fence. He came up to bat in the ninth inning with the Phillies tied 1-1 and the go-ahead run in scoring position. After swinging at two pitches just below the zone, his former teammate Robertson, attempting his first save since being traded from the Mets to Miami, gave him a gift and hung a slider. Castellanos crushed it off the scoreboard below the second deck in left field and the Phillies had a 3-1 lead.
The home run came at a perfect time. Not only did it break a slump, but it led to a second ninth-inning comeback win against the Marlins in Miami in less than a month. It gave the Phillies their sixth win of the season while trailing after eight innings.
Following the game, the introspective Castellanos reflected on his struggles in an interview with the Phillies radio booth that was shared on Twitter by Nick Piccone.
“It’s been a big learning experience,” Castellanos said. “I think sometimes with hitting, I’m such a feel guy that I’ll get careless with my work or my routine. Not that I don’t hit, but I’ll take for granted that the game is easy. If you don’t have that religious work routine and plan everyday, when the game goes, sometimes it goes. Honestly, playing in Philly, you know, everybody wants to win so bad, the pressure is more because of the expectations. That’s why me learning is having the same mindset, sticking with the work and just letting the game come to you.”
Kevin Stocker then asked if Castellanos worked on anything in particular.
“This is a fantastic question. Honestly, I want to hit so bad. I love hitting, ever since I was a little kid, right? But what gets me in trouble — if I don’t feel like I’m hitting well, I want to hit worse. Then I start chasing and I start expanding and then I become easy. An easy out, pretty much. And that’s frustrating because then I start working on my swing and this and that and tinkering.
“I wish that I can turn my mind off when I go home. A lot of times when I go home, I’m just walking around in the living room, figuring out, alright, this this, this. It’s a good thing because I’m an obsessive person, but it’s also a bad thing because sometimes you just have to smile and put it down and wait until tomorrow.”
Castellanos, following the home run in Atlanta, posted better numbers over the final two months of the 2022 season. He slashed .281/.315/.422 with four home runs and 11 RBIs from Aug. 4 to the end of the regular season. The Phillies, if they’re going to secure a top wild card spot, may need a little more out of Castellanos this time around, but with his worst struggles behind him, it may only be up from here for Castellanos.
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