The Phillies started Max Kepler in right field tonight against Marlins righty Valente Bellozo. That left Nick Castellanos on the bench for the third time in the past four games, all of which came with a right-hander on the mound.
Manager Rob Thomson said Thursday that Kepler would pick up increased playing time against righties (link via Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic). “At this point in the year, I’m going to put out what I think is the best lineup on any given day to win a ballgame,” Thomson said. “There’s still a bit of a rotation, if you want to call it that. If you want to call it a platoon, doesn’t matter to me.”
That won’t leave much playing time for the righty-hitting Castellanos. That’s less about handedness and more a reflection of his numbers in the second half. Castellanos carries a .199/.253/.309 batting line since the All-Star Break. He had a sub-.600 OPS in both July and August. Kepler’s season numbers are poor, but he’s been the much better hitter in recent weeks. The lefty batter owns a .267/.318/.483 slash with a dramatically reduced 12.1% strikeout rate since the beginning of August. That doesn’t include tonight’s performance, in which he chipped in another two knocks and a home run.
The Phils haven’t wanted to give Kepler playing time against left-handed pitching all season. He’s hitting .196/.258/.304 without the platoon advantage. Castellanos will continue to get at-bats against southpaws. The outfield against righty pitching will run Brandon Marsh, Harrison Bader and Kepler from left to right. Castellanos obviously isn’t going to take more than a scattered start at DH or first base from Kyle Schwarber or Bryce Harper. He’ll be relegated to a short-side platoon role barring an injury.
Castellanos is in the fourth season of a five-year deal that pays him $20MM annually. The Phils signed Castellanos and Schwarber within days of one another coming out of the 2022 lockout. The Schwarber contract has been one of the best free agent pickups in recent memory. The Castellanos addition hasn’t worked out nearly as well. He’s been exceptionally durable and racked up counting stats (including a 29-homer season with 106 RBI in 2023). His rate metrics at the plate have been essentially league average, though, and he’s one of the league’s worst defensive outfielders. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference have each valued Castellanos around a cumulative one win above replacement over the past four seasons.
Schwarber, Bader and Kepler are each impending free agents. The Phils could turn left field to former first-round pick Justin Crawford in 2026. It’s tough to imagine they’ll roll with Castellanos as an everyday right fielder next season. They’re going to make an effort to bring Schwarber back at designated hitter. It stands to reason they’ll try to find a trade partner willing to assume a small portion of Castellanos’ salary, but his second-half numbers could leave them weighing an offseason release if they don’t find a taker.
I haven’t check the latest WAR to $ value recently. But, 1.2 bWAR for $80 million seems a tad high.
He must be condensing all his ability to put up 12 bWAR season in 26.
Bader and Marsh homered tonight
As did Max Kepler.
his time with the phils has been pretty underwhelming
1 good season in between 3 disappointing ones
it was a bad signing and everyone knew it at the time. just did not make sense for one team to have both him and Schwarber. But truth be told I think Schwarber was the player whose value I have most underrated in the last 5 years. I was so happy the red sox did not resign him. My bad
Schwarber made a huge adjustment to tighten up his strikezone the last two seasons. Not an easy feat. Before that, he was Joey Gallo.
Nick Castellanos has been my least favorite player ever since his classless comments about the Tigers and Comerica Park when the Tigers traded him just before he reached free agency. Karma is a beotch, eh Nicky?
Me personally, it’s a little hard to say this is bad karma when the guy has made 2 All-Star games, got to play in the World Series, and got his $100 million contract after said comments.
$100M of karma
Castellanos is the definition of you can’t make an error if you never can get to the ball. Constantly at the bottom of defensive runs saved and outs above average, poor route running and poor jumps, 30th percentile of arm strength. Yet somehow he has a .996 fielding percentage since 2021. Pretty much will catch whatever is hit directly at him, but that’s about it.
That was Bernie Williams also but he does have four rings and a few GGs.
I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith in Castellanos hitting a drive to deep left
First Michael Stipe was losing his religion, now Nicks losing playing time.
How much of his $20 million salary would the Phillies have to eat to get some team to take him for next year? $12 million?
Braves sure would enjoy not seeing him
His mom is hot.