MIAMI — Nick Castellanos’ leaping grab at the right-field wall helped save the Phillies on Wednesday.
There was some irony in that being the final play of their 4-2 win over Miami, given that Castellanos had been benched for the previous game for an incident that began with him being removed for a defensive substitution.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson had outlined a plan to remove Castellanos late in close games in favor of Johan Rojas’ elite defense if the situation called for it. Thomson had not done that before with the veteran right fielder, and on Monday, when it happened for the first time, Castellanos responded with an “inappropriate comment” in frustration.
After Castellanos returned to the lineup following his one-game benching, Thomson said he would “probably not” take him out even if a situation arose that day, given the timing. And so Castellanos was in right field in the ninth to make the game-saving catch with the tying runs on base.
But the situation has sparked debate about Castellanos’ defensive ability.
“I don’t know,” Castellanos said when asked how he evaluates his defense this season. “That’s not for me. I just go out there and play. It’s for everybody else.”
While Castellanos holds the National League record for consecutive errorless games after a 414-game streak that ended in June 2024, he grades out poorly on Statcast metrics that evaluate overall defensive capabilities.
In outs above average, which measures a players’ range and ability to make plays relative to other players at his position, Castellanos has a minus-8 this season. That puts him last out of qualified major league outfielders. Statcast measures his arm value at minus-2, and he has a minus-10 defensive runs saved marker.
Castellanos said he doesn’t understand many of those advanced metrics, but this week he asked Dave Dombrowski to start giving him a packet with all of his numbers after each series.
“So I can understand it,” Castellanos said. “That way, I can know how to be competitive with it.”
» READ MORE: Rob Thomson was right to punish Nick Castellanos, who then had a great game
Thomson said he would continue to use a defensive replacement for Castellanos late in close games if he felt the situation warranted it. How would Castellanos react?
“It’s not my decision,” he said.
Castellanos said that he doesn’t feel this situation has impacted his relationship with Thomson overall.
“We’re two grown men that show up for work every day with the common goal of winning a World Series,” Castellanos said. “If everybody just agrees on everything and doesn’t speak their mind, there’s not going to be passion there. Emotions drive people, especially passionate people.
“So to think that there’s going to be eight months of consistently being together and not butting heads at all, that probably doesn’t happen.”
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