Jun 7, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos (8) argues with home plate umpire Nestor Ceja (33) after Castellanos was called out on strikes by the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Nick Castellanos has played in all 72 games thus far this season. However, for the first time in a long time, he will not be in the lineup tonight.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer's Lochlahn March, manager Rob Thomson said Castellanos is out of the lineup tonight against the Miami Marlins because of an "inappropriate comment" he made after he was removed from Monday's game.
Castellanos was removed from Monday's game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rob Thomson put Johan Rojas in as a defensive substitution to play center field, which moved Brandon Marsh from center to left field, and Max Kepler from left to right field. At that point, the Phillies led the Marlins 3-1.
The Athletic's Charlotte Varnes reported that Castellanos said he was unhappy with being pulled from Monday's game and spoke his mind.
"It's his decision. He's the manager," Castellanos told Varnes.
"[Thomson] said that I crossed a line. So my punishment is I'm not playing," he told March.
We likely won't know what was actually said, but Thomson is widely known as a player's manager. For him to bench Castellanos – an everyday lineup staple – it must have been serious.
Castellanos's streak of consecutive games started will end at 236. He played all 162 games in 2024; the last time he wasn't in the lineup was September 30, 2023, in game one of a doubleheader against the New York Mets.
