The Philadelphia Phillies’ outfield trio of Brandon Marsh, Nick Castellanos, and Max Kepler struggled for much of the season, prompting the organization to trade for Harrison Bader. The Phillies’ purchase of Bader has resulted in an outfield rotation, forcing an All-Star like Nick Castellanos to play less frequently. Castellanos is a two-time All-Star and a Silver Slugger Award winner, but he has been essentially a league-average hitter since joining the Phillies, where he has a 101 OPS+ over four seasons.
Even by those standards, he is having a disappointing season and was removed from Friday night’s game as a defensive substitute, after making a terrific grab earlier. Castellanos is not accustomed to being yanked from games or not beginning. He even got into a fight with Rob Thomson after being removed from a game as a defensive replacement earlier this season.
Bader is a superior defender than Castellanos, and the analytics indicate that the Phillies should replace Castellanos in the outfield to put their best defense on the field late in a game.
However, when asked if he was frustrated with his new role, Castellanos left little room for interpretation.
“Yes,” Castellanos told The Athletic’s Charlotte Varnes. Castellanos appeared in every game for the Phillies last season, starting each one. And 143 of them were full games. He has started 124 games this season, although only 111 of them have been completed as an outfielder.
His numbers this season back up Thomson’s choice not to put him in the lineup every day or pull him from games. In 2022, his.700 OPS is on track to dip below or equal the.694 OPS he posted in his first year with Philadelphia.