Jun 18, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson congratulates outfielder Nick Castellanos (8) after his walk off RBI double ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports Bill Streicher
Tuesday afternoon in Miami turned into quite a busy time for the Phillies, with Rob Thomson informing the media present — Lochlahn March of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic among them — that Nick Castellanos' streak of 236 consecutive games played was ending for punitive reasons:
Nick Castellanos is out of the lineup today because of an “inappropriate comment” he made after being removed last night’s game, Rob Thomson said.
— Lochlahn March (@lochlahn) June 17, 2025
Castellanos' "inappropriate comment" apparently came after he was pulled defensively late in Monday night's win over the Marlins, with Johan Rojas coming in to play center field, pushing Brandon Marsh to left field and Max Kepler to right field in an attempt to help preserve an eventual 5-2 win over the Fish:
Castellanos said he was unhappy with being pulled from yesterday’s game, then spoke his mind. Thomson told him he’d crossed a line.
“It’s his decision. He’s the manager.”
The Phillies lost 8-3 Tuesday night without Castellanos in the lineup, a defeat that included Kepler losing a ball in the lights in right field on a play that any Major League outfielder would be expected to make:
That fluky play aside, March noted that Thomson seemed to indicate after Monday's win that he had changed his stance on not removing Castellanos late in games for defensive upgrades:
“I talked to Nick about it the other day, and just moving forward, because we have this run of right-handed pitching, and you got Rojas sitting there on the bench. He’s really kind of an elite defender, so you might as well use him,” Thomson said of the decision after Monday’s game.
It's unclear if this conversation took place after Saturday's win over the Toronto Blue Jays. In the top of the second inning of that game, Castellanos missed a ball in right field off the bat of Ernie Clement. After the game, Thomson said "the timing was off on his jump," adding that "usually, he makes that play." Castellanos seemed to disagree with that assessment, telling Ty Daubert of Phillies Nation that "it hit like two feet higher than where my glove was" after saying he had watched the replay.
A review of the replay leaves you with the impression that while it was not an easy play by any means, Thomson's assessment was probably more accurate. Thomson's analysis was also seemingly not meant to belittle Castellanos:
But there is a reality that while Thomson has typically elected not to take Castellanos out for a defensive replacement — a sign of respect for how hard the veteran works — the best defensive outfield for the Phillies right now doesn't include Castellanos. Castellanos told Daubert that "that system’s never favored me in my whole career" referring to outs above average, one of the most-cited defensive metrics. That's true, as Castellanos has minus-77 OAA in right field in his career. But he's struggled even more than normal this year. Across 600 innings in 2025, Castellanos has minus-8 OAA. A year ago, he had minus-8 OAA in over 1,300 innings. He also has minus-10 defensive runs saved this season, after having minus-11 all of 2024. Frankly, his metrics a year ago would have justified pulling him for a defensive replacement late in games. But they have gotten worse in 2025, with both easily the worst marks among qualified right fielders. To his credit, Castellanos rarely makes errors, although part of that is he's not getting to some balls that a better defender would.
There is a human element to consider here. No one can ever question how hard Castellanos works, as he's regularly the first Phillie on the field before games. Miami is also essentially a home series for him, which might have contributed to him reaching a boiling point when pulled from the game Monday. But there were multiple questionable defensive plays on the last homestand, and while it might be unfortunate timing to have this tough discussion, it was probably one that needed to take place.
Apparently, though, Castellanos' frustration with some of Thomson's decision-making isn't limited to the recent spat over defensive strategy late in games.
Varnes' story — which also featured contributions from Matt Gelb — included this note:
"But this isn’t the first time Castellanos and Thomson haven’t seen eye-to-eye. Castellanos, according to team sources, has complained about disrespect whenever he’s hitting lower in the lineup. That was something Castellanos voiced in spring training, and he hit seventh on Opening Day. But, about a week into the season, he had reclaimed a middle-of-the-order spot. He’s hit fourth or fifth in 61 of the team’s games this season."
Castellanos explained last summer why he likes hitting in the heart of the order:
Nick Castellanos: “…my style of hitting, which is always like glorified batting practice … I don’t really have an approach, I look for the baseball and hit it as hard as I can…” @PhilliesNation pic.twitter.com/HmZbzbPp6C
That makes perfect sense, and when Castellanos has hit like anything resembling a middle-of-the-order batter during his time with the Phillies, that's typically where Thomson has put him. But there have also been stretches where he's struggled significantly at the plate, and gotten into bad tendencies like chasing pitches way out of the zone. It's hard to justify during those times having Castellanos hit in the middle of the lineup. Thomson also has hardly had a quick trigger finger in moving Castellanos down or out of the lineup in these stretches. Heck, he ran him out there for all 162 games last season, which is an accomplishment worth celebrating. But Castellanos hit .233 with a .680 OPS in the first half of the season. Moving him down was a completely fair response by Thomson, and you can argue that at some point he should have taken him out of the lineup altogether at the height of his struggles.
Castellanos hit .309 with 34 home runs, 100 RBIs and a .939 OPS for the Cincinnati Reds in 2021. If Thomson had that version of Castellanos — whom the Phillies gave a five-year/$100 million free-agent contract — hitting seventh or eighth, it would have been disrespectful. But since joining the Phillies, Castellanos is hitting .265 with a .744 OPS. There have been some really good stretches, like when he was an All-Star in 2023 or when he posted an .839 OPS in the second half of the 2024 season. However, there have been at least as many middling to disappointing stretches at the plate during the parts of four seasons Castellanos has played for the Phillies. And his placement in the lineup has reflected that.
What needs to happen now is for the two sides — Castellanos and the Phillies (Thomson specifically) — to get back on the same page for the remainder of this season. Even though Castellanos currently has a minus-0.2 WAR according to FanGraphs, he's the biggest bat they have in what's an underwhelming outfield. Perhaps this turns into a Rafael Devers situation where Castellanos is traded before the July 31 trade deadline, but that would likely require the Phillies taking back a contract someone else is looking to offload and/or paying down a significant chunk of Castellanos' remaining money. The most likely scenario is that Castellanos is the right fielder at least for the remainder of this season. If Castellanos is still upset with things in the offseason, then maybe the Phillies will eat a sizable portion of the $20 million he's owed in 2026 and cut their losses in a trade.
For the rest of this year, though, Castellanos may have to accept that it makes the most sense to take him out defensively late in close games. And if he has a month where he goes into the tank offensively, he may not get to keep hitting as high in the lineup as he is right now. It may be uncomfortable, but those are the realities of where things are at right now.
