Phillies careful with surging Nick Castellanos as outfielder continues torrid start
PHILADELPHIA — Nick Castellanos didn’t report any new injury. Manager Rob Thomson just wanted to get one of his hottest hitters out of harm’s way.
After leaving Thursday’s win with left hip flexor tightness, Castellanos was back in the lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. But the Phillies pinch ran for the right fielder at first base in the bottom of the fifth inning after he singled to left field to go 2-for-3 with a double on the day.
Leading by seven runs in an eventual 7-2 victory, Thomson made a bit of an aggressive move to take Castellanos out so early. With the outfield situation the way it is, it made some sense to proceed with caution.
“At that time, I didn’t really want him to run the bases,” Thomson said. “And we were up seven to nothing, so I felt pretty comfortable with it, just to get him out of there and make sure he’s safe.”
Castellanos is batting .319/.372/.528 with three home runs and six doubles this year, and he’s hitting .417 in his last seven games. He smoked a third-inning double the opposite way at 105 mph on Friday, then singled to left at 104 mph in the fifth. Castellanos is surging at the plate and providing some extra thump in the middle of the order behind Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber in Philadelphia’s new lineup configuration. His production is a contrast to that of the rest of the Phillies’ outfield.
Newcomer Max Kepler has a .642 OPS as the everyday left fielder, and center fielder Brandon Marsh, now day-to-day with a knee issue, hasn’t recorded a hit in April. His batting average on the season has dipped to .095.
The glove-first Johan Rojas has put together some solid at-bats and swings recently, but he’s the only natural outfielder who hits right-handed on the roster besides Castellanos. Losing their right fielder due to injury for any period of time would be detrimental for the Phillies.
With that in mind, Thomson inserted Kody Clemens as a pinch runner in a lopsided game in the fifth. He picked Clemens, a left-handed hitter, since the Marlins had just used their only lefty reliever in Anthony Veneziano. Clemens stayed in the game in left field while Kepler shifted over to right field. The Phillies (12-8) held on to win without much worry.
Castellanos played 162 games last season and has played in 184 straight in the regular season. Maybe that streak will snap at some point this year or his torrid start will cool off. Either way, there aren’t many other options in the outfield. The Phillies will need him healthy and in the lineup as often as possible. With no new pain or discomfort in his hip, it’ll be that way on Saturday.
“He’ll be in there tomorrow,” Thomson said.