October 23, 2024
Eric Hartline/USA Today Sports
Nick Castellanos has been as clutch as any hitter in baseball in 2024.
It came too soon — a pivotal offseason for the Phillies as they scratch their heads after an embarrassing loss to the Mets in the NLDS.
The first thing the team will need to decide is what they should do with the 26 men who got them the 2-seed in the National League with 95 wins this past season. Who should stay, and who should go?
It would be lunacy to return the entire roster. They need some changes. The bullpen was obviously an issue in the playoffs, the team did not have enough contact hitters, nor did it have the best defense in place to handle the young and feisty Mets. But just how and should the team approach these necessary changes?
Our next visit to this topic will touch on a player who can be frustrating at times — but also extremely rewarding in outfielder Nick Castellanos.
First and foremost, Castellanos is clutch. Very clutch. The 32-year-old hit his first career postseason walk-off — and actually the first for the Phillies since Jimmy Rollins did it in 2009 — in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Mets. Over the last 10 seasons, there have been 708 walk-off hits in a regular season game. Only seven hitters have more than Casty's seven (Starling Matre and Carlos Correa have 10). Bryce Harper actually is in second in the majors with nine such hits. Castellanos has had four of those — not including his playoff winner — in 2024.
In addition, the Phillies have very little by way of reliable outfielders right now. And for all his ups and downs, Castellanos was the only player on the roster to start all 162 games last season, which is no easy feat. He had fine offensive numbers — hitting .254 with 23 homers and 86 RBI — and doesn't appear to have his job in any sort of jeopardy as far as his roster spot goes.
He had a brutal start to 2024, hitting .233 over the first 96 games of the season. But in the final 66 games after the All-Star break he really came on, hitting .287, walking more while striking out less, and increasing his slugging percentage by over 100 points.
The two-time All-Star was inked to a five-year, $100 million contract back in 2022, and has two more years left on the deal. Trading a 32-year-old with $40 million remaining is not an easy task, and player-for-play deal at that high a level is extremely rare. For logistical reasons alone, it seems pretty set that Casty will be back next year.
It's been made clear over his three years as a Phillie that putting a full season together is not something Castellanos is able to do offensively. He's also not exactly Willie Mays in the field. But he's solid enough in both areas to warrant his $100 million contract.
Still, the Phillies need to get better somewhere and if they're able to shed Castellanos' big contract and get younger it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.
There is a clear decline in place at the plate for Castellanos, as he had a career low batting average (for a full season, his COVID 2020 was technically worse), and hit less homers and RBI than he did back in 2023. There were rumors circulating last November that the Phillies were shopping their outfielder, and it's possible they remerge. Phillies president Dave Dombrowski did tell the media he was open to trading good players for good players.
If there's a suitor for Castellanos, at the very least he is not untouchable, and the front office should consider any option to get closer to a championship next season.
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