Nick Castellanos tracked a 98 mph fly ball from Toronto’s Ernie Clement to the warning track in right-center at Citizens Bank Park, leapt with his glove extended—but couldn’t make the catch. Clement ended up with a double, and Phillies manager Rob Thomson believed it was a play Castellanos could’ve made.
“He mistimed the jump,” Thomson said. “Normally, he comes down with that one.”
Castellanos disagreed, saying the ball was simply out of reach.
“I checked—it was too high,” he said. “It hit about two feet above my glove.”
The ball ricocheted off the chain-link fence, putting a runner in scoring position who eventually came around to score. While that run didn’t alter the final result—Philadelphia held on for a 3–2 win over the Blue Jays on Saturday—it was another instance of a defensive miscue in right field costing the team a run.
At the plate, Castellanos has had a respectable season, slashing .280/.324/.420 with six home runs and 17 doubles through 70 games. But his defensive struggles have dragged down his overall value. Despite a solid 107 wRC+, his fWAR sits at -0.2 in 2025. Defensive metrics have never favored him as a right fielder in Philadelphia, and this season has been especially poor.
As of Sunday, he leads all major league outfielders in both negative outs above average (-8) and defensive runs saved (-10), putting him on pace to fall below even last year’s disappointing -8 OAA and -11 DRS.
The numbers suggest his range has declined. Does Castellanos feel the same?
“I’m not really sure, but I know that system has never worked in my favor throughout my career,” Nick Castellanos said about Outs Above Average (OAA).
While advanced metrics like OAA provide insights, they aren’t the full picture—especially not this early in the season. Castellanos, who has played in every game since the start of the 2024 campaign, pointed out that the metric compares his defensive performance to others, including players who only play situationally and may benefit from more favorable conditions. He questioned the consistency of the system.
“I think it picks and chooses how it evaluates,” he said.
Still, beyond the numbers, there have been some plays that seemed within reach. In Wednesday’s game against the Cubs, Castellanos misjudged a foul ball in the fourth inning and was unable to track down a line drive in the eighth—both hitters eventually scored Chicago’s only runs in a 7-2 Phillies win.
On the first play, he chased a foul pop-up from Carson Kelly into right field but lost it in the bright sun. By the time he regained sight of the ball, it had dropped behind him. Kelly later stayed alive and hit a double. On the second, he couldn’t quite reach a sharply hit double by Ian Happ into the gap.
“I liked the path I took,” Castellanos said. “I just didn’t make it there.”
As with a similar instance on Saturday, neither play ended up hurting the Phillies’ outcome, and the team has looked strong, winning four of their last five games at home. Castellanos’ defense remains a talking point, though, largely because he’s been a daily presence in the outfield, with Kyle Schwarber locked in at DH. (Manager Rob Thomson mentioned Saturday that Castellanos might get a day at DH soon while Schwarber plays the field.)
While the team did use a defensive trio of Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas, and Max Kepler at the end of Friday’s blowout, they don’t typically remove Castellanos late in games. He’s expected to be in right field for crucial outs throughout the season and potentially in the playoffs.
Back in 2022, during his first year with Philadelphia, Castellanos earned praise for key sliding catches during the Phillies’ World Series run. Though he’s not a Gold Glove contender, returning to that level of defensive reliability could be valuable right now. A bit more range or quicker reactions would go a long way.
“Nick is usually a guy who catches whatever he can get to,” Thomson said Wednesday.
Despite some hiccups, Castellanos is keeping his approach simple in the field.
“My focus is usually just: make the play and hit the cutoff man,” he said.