Nick Castellanos’ chase for 162 games goes beyond endurance. It’s a testament to the Phillies’ faith in him.

MIAMI — Nick Castellanos stood in right field during batting practice on March 29 when Rob Thomson wandered over, part of his daily pregame rounds to check in with each player.

“Happy opening day,” the Phillies manager said.

As Castellanos recalls, he returned the pleasantry, drifted a few paces to shag a fly ball, and decided to head inside when Thomson left him with what he interpreted as a message.

“He just said something like, ‘Hey, 162,’” Castellanos said the other day before a game against the Marlins. “I just looked at him, and I pointed, kind of like a nod. It was like, ‘All right.’”

» READ MORE: As load management creeps into MLB, these Phillies want to play every day: ‘It’s a mindset’

And that, as far as Castellanos was concerned, was the extent of their conversation about one of his most ambitious individual goals for the season: to play in every game, all 162, over a period of 184 days.

It’s a nice story, especially with Castellanos on the precipice of actually taking Thomson literally and going the distance. But, well, here’s the truth:

“He’s not the only one I said it to,” Thomson confessed. “I’m not sure if he knows that or not. But it is a big thing for him. It’s remarkable to me, with all the work he’s put in, that he’s stayed healthy and productive.”

The health part isn’t surprising. Castellanos, 32, has long been durable. He played in 148 games as a rookie third baseman for the Tigers in 2014. In the last eight full seasons, he played 154, 110, 157, 157, 151, 138, 136, and 157 games. He has been on the injured list three times in 11 years.

But there’s something different about chasing 162. Castellanos, wrapping up Year 3 of a five-year, $100 million contract, can neither explain nor articulate it. He thought about it in the offseason and trained accordingly. In spring training, he told a few coaches that he wanted to do it. Word trickled back to Thomson.

It’s an ambitious endeavor, playing every game in a sport that schedules games darn near every day for six months. It’s exceedingly unusual, too, especially in the age of sports science. Teams synthesize data to chase optimal nutrition, sleep habits, and more. Rest is planned, with managers receiving recommendations about which players could use a breather.

The concept of the baseball iron man has been superseded by NBA-style load management.

Last year, four players — Matt Olson (Braves), Marcus Semien (Rangers), Juan Soto (Padres), and Eugenio Suárez (Mariners) — made it to 162 games. In 2022, only Olson and then-Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson did it. Semien and Whit Merrifield were the only players to get there in 2021.

» READ MORE: From spring training: Phillies’ Nick Castellanos finally ‘at peace’ with playing in the Philadelphia sports fishbowl

Of the 629 position players this season, through Thursday, only seven — Castellanos, Olson, Marcell Ozuna (Braves), Pete Alonso (Mets), Francisco Lindor (Mets), Willy Adames (Brewers), and Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals) — hadn’t missed a game. If Castellanos completes the marathon, he will be the fifth Phillies player since 1982 to book a full season, joining Freddy Galvis (2017), Ryan Howard (2008), Jimmy Rollins (2007), and Bobby Abreu (2001, 2005).

“Honestly, I really have no idea what it is,” Castellanos said of the allure of 162. “I just think to say that there was a season where you started every game would be cool. No doubt.”

It’s a testament to Castellanos’ endurance, but also to Thomson’s faith. He stuck with the right fielder every day in April and May when he was among the least productive hitters in the majors, believing he would come around as he did in June, July, and August.

And in September, as the Phillies try to balance making sure their best players are rested for the postseason and securing the best record in the National League, Castellanos’ season stands as the best argument for doing the latter.

Castellanos has never played with Semien. But there aren’t many players he admires more than the Rangers second baseman.

Semien’s signature: playing every game in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

“I mean, it doesn’t get much more professional than that,” Castellanos said this week. “And this is what I think fans and media miss. Even if Marcus Semien isn’t playing his best baseball, just being Marcus Semien every day makes everybody better. That’s just something that you have to be in the game to feel and understand.”

» READ MORE: The Phillies expected more from Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh. Here’s how they’re dealing with ‘a game of failure.’

Indeed, there’s a common thread among players who routinely frequent Club 162. Over time, they earned the privilege of staying in the lineup, even amid struggles.

Castellanos cites Merrifield as an example. Before his unsuccessful stint with the Phillies as a utility player, he played in 553 consecutive games, bookending 162-game marathons in 2019 and 2021 around a 60-game full season in pandemic-shortened 2020.

“I’ve always wanted to play, and it took me so long to get to the big leagues,” Merrifield said in spring training. “I didn’t want to give up a day as a big leaguer. If I don’t play today, I can’t have that at-bat where something clicks and I get out of my slump.”

But Merrifield also earned his daily spot, leading the American League in hits in 2018 and 2019 for the Royals.

So, there was Castellanos on Memorial Day, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in a Phillies loss at San Francisco. He was batting .198 with three doubles, six homers, and an impossibly low .574 OPS. It was a representative sample, too, 227 plate appearances, or roughly 33% of the season.

Fans called for the Phillies to bench Castellanos. Team officials discussed whether a few days off may help him regroup. But short of dropping him to the No. 7 spot in the order, Thomson didn’t waver. He let him swing his way out of his struggles.

Two days later, Castellanos doubled and homered. A week after that, he hit a two-run homer in a 2-0 win over the Brewers. He went deep again July 8 in London. Through Thursday, he was batting .294 and slugging .494, with 19 doubles, 10 homers, and an .838 OPS since June 17.

» READ MORE: Re-ranking our top 10 Phillies prospects as their seasons end, and what’s next for each in 2025

Castellanos hasn’t quite carried the Phillies. But amid their teamwide midsummer swoon — an 8-18 skid from July 12 to Aug. 13 — Castellanos, of all people, was a beacon of consistency. Consider his numbers over the last three months:

Castellanos began September with an RBI single in the 11th inning last Sunday night against the Braves. He has four walk-off hits, tied with Jean Segura (2021), Juan Samuel (1985), and Tony Taylor (1970) for the most by a Phillies player in a season since 1920.

“I think you take a philosophy with guys that generally can hit where you give them enough at-bats to where they can snap out of it themselves,” said Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who drafted Castellanos for Detroit in the first round in 2010. “Now, maybe eventually you say, ‘OK, we’re going to sit you.’ But he’s a guy where, he’s a good hitter. It’s hard to find a guy that’s necessarily better than he is, and you try to get him out of it however you can.”

Thomson put it more simply: “I trust him.”

And Castellanos appreciated the confidence.

“I like to say that once you become a veteran, you’ve earned the right to the baseball field. And then, the communication becomes with the manager,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Hey, this is what I need,’ and your fate is in the hands of the staff. If you don’t feel like a manager has your back, that’s pretty uninspiring to lace up your cleats for.”

» READ MORE: Handicapping Zack Wheeler's Cy Young chances with one month to go

But it goes both ways. If Castellanos wasn’t a proven hitter over more than a decade in the majors, Thomson wouldn’t have had as much patience. It’s a fact of life in baseball.

“You go into the season saying, ‘I want to play 162 games.’ It’s a thing that guys want to do,” said Bryson Stott, the Phillies’ third-year second baseman. “But it’s not up to you to play 162 games. It’s up to the manager. And you look at Mookie Betts and [Freddie] Freeman, all those guys that are playing 162 games. The thing that people don’t realize is they’ve earned that. They’re not getting the tough righties off. They’re not platooning. They’ve earned it over their career.”

In 2009, the Yankees had a 7½-game lead in the American League East on Labor Day, a cushion that mirrors the Phillies’ spot in the standings entering this weekend. Thomson was a coach in New York then.

Surely, there are lessons he can apply to navigate September.

Back then, though, home-field advantage in the World Series alternated between the leagues. It’s determined now by the best record. And the Phillies want to play as many games as possible at Citizens Bank Park in October.

“There’s that final carrot, which wasn’t there [in 2009],” Thomson said. “I’ve said all along, it’s so important for us to play at home in front of our fan base because they just energize our group. I think that’s an important piece — without putting people in harm’s way.”

» READ MORE: No one is on a 100-win pace. What’s happened to the super teams, and whose struggles will pay off?

So they will balance keeping a foot on the gas pedal and getting rest for banged-up players. (Bryce Harper, for instance, is dealing with nagging right elbow and wrist problems.)

One thing seems certain: Castellanos will stay in the lineup.

Castellanos doesn’t see much sense in talking about it. Because as soon as he does, well, he gets hit by a pitch on the leg in Toronto. For as much as he has trained his body to withstand the rigors of 162 games, luck also is central to finishing the task.

“The only thing I can do is control my preparation, do the best I can to put my body in a healthy position to be there to help the team win every day,” Castellanos said. “If anything, it’s just a testament of consistency, you know?”

Maybe that explains Castellanos’ fascination with 162. As he ages, his preparation changes. He does more work on the field before games now, from defensive drills with coach Paco Figueroa to early swings with assistant hitting coach Rafael Peña. He’s a slave to routine, and routines are easier to adhere to when there’s a game to play every day.

“Not saying that I’m old or anything, but as I’m approaching [baseball] adulthood,” Castellanos said, smiling at the absurdity of that phrase, “whatever you want to call it, things like nutrition or preparation and work becomes more important.”

» READ MORE: How far can the Phillies ride their NLCS Game 7 heartbreak? Players who have been there know.

So maybe more players should be allowed to play every game. Maybe load management should stay in the NBA.

“That’s a little bit above my skis, right?” Castellanos said. “I can see the other side of it. The Yankees have $400 million invested in Aaron Judge and have to preserve that guy’s body over the next 10 years. So I can definitely see a front office mindset.”

But?

“I’m more an old-school mentality,” he said. “The only way that you’re going to help the team win is by playing, and the more often I can play, the more good things can happen.”