Nick Castellanos’ sliding catches have become an unlikely staple in the Phillies’ playoff run

Castellanos admits he struggled to focus in right field at times during the regular season. But in the playoffs he has been "locked in."

Nick Castellanos catches a fly ball hit by the Astros' Jose Altuve in the first inning of Game 3.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published Nov. 2, 2022, 2:00 p.m. ET

Midway through the summer, as Nick Castellanos’ pursuit of his statistical norms grew increasingly hopeless, his coaches and close friends implored him to focus more on the future than the past. If he could rally to deliver a few signature hits down the stretch or in the playoffs, nobody would remember his first season with the Phillies for all of the doubles and home runs that he didn’t hit.

But not even the most ardent Castellanos supporter would have imagined him saving his season by becoming a run-saving machine.

Castellanos has 12 hits in the postseason, which ranks third among Phillies players. He has driven in seven runs through 14 games. But years from now, when everyone looks back at a postseason run that is as mystical as any in the franchise’s 140-year history, it will be his three sliding catches in right field that get played over and over on the endless highlight loop.

“Gold Glove,” center fielder Brandon Marsh said without a trace of laughter.

But seriously, the eye test and every available metric agree that Castellanos is among the worst defensive outfielders in baseball. For three weeks, he has been nothing less than the second coming of Mookie Betts, with his latest web gem setting a tone for the Phillies’ 7-0 trouncing of the Houston Astros in the pivotal Game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

It happened in the first inning. On the first pitch, in fact. Jose Altuve, who ambushed Zack Wheeler with a double in Game 2, was at it again, lining Ranger Suárez’s first pitch to shallow right field. It was sure to fall for a hit. The expected batting average, according to Statcast: .560.

Along came Castellanos. The safe play from the unsteady outfielder would have been to let the ball drop in and hold Altuve to a single rather than risk it skipping away and rolling to the wall for extra bases. Not Castellanos. He slid across the grass, reached out his glove, and snatched it before it hit the turf.

“He’s got a knack for it now,” first baseman Rhys Hoskins said. “For him to be able to trust his instincts, make plays when he has, it’s huge.”

Said fellow outfielder Matt Vierling: “I think each time you make one of those plays, you have more confidence in yourself to make that play.”

Castellanos made two other sliding catches, under far greater pressure, earlier in the postseason.

In Game 1 of the divisional round against the Atlanta Braves, one batter after Zach Eflin allowed Matt Olson’s three-run homer to cut the Phillies’ lead to 7-6 in the ninth inning, Castellanos charged a low line drive, slid, stuck out his mitt, and stole a hit from William Contreras.

Then, in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night in Houston, Castellanos made an almost identical play to rob Jeremy Peña with the winning run on second base and send the game into extra innings. J.T. Realmuto hit a go-ahead homer in the 10th, and the Phillies emerged with a 6-5 victory after trailing 5-0 against Astros ace Justin Verlander.

If you didn’t know better, you’d never guess that Castellanos tied for last among right fielders with nine defensive runs saved below average, according to Baseball Info Solutions.

“He’s been playing so well out there,” Vierling said. “I think it’s a testament to how hard he’s been working and how focused he is right now.”

Indeed, Castellanos admitted that he has heightened his focus in the postseason. The mind tends to wander in the outfield, especially when you join a new team after signing a $100 million contract and put up the worst offensive numbers of your career. There were times during the season when Castellanos was “so disappointed in himself that he’s letting Dave Dombrowski down, the owner down, his teammates down, the fans down,” according to his personal hitting coach Matt Martin.

Now imagine taking those thoughts out to right field for nine innings every game.

“The honest truth is a lot of times on defense I struggle focusing for 162 games,” said Castellanos, who admitted to thinking about his family or his last at-bat. “My mind is really fast and wanders. But with this atmosphere, it’s unbelievable. Being locked in on every pitch, I just think my jumps and anticipation, everything has just gotten better by itself.”

Rob Thomson sensed it, too. During the season, the manager would often replace Castellanos with a better defensive right fielder in the ninth inning. He has done it only once in the playoffs. After carrying a fifth outfielder Dalton Guthrie in the divisional round and in the National League Championship Series, the Phillies took him off the roster for the World Series in part because they no longer felt the need to substitute for Castellanos.

Thomson credited outfield coach Paco Figueroa for helping Castellanos get better reads off the bat. They worked together throughout the season, especially once it became clear that Castellanos would have to play right field every day. That wasn’t the Phillies’ plan until Bryce Harper strained a ligament in his right elbow in April and was relegated to being a full-time designated hitter.

Castellanos’ biggest catch in the postseason? Take your pick.

But after getting booed at Citizens Bank Park earlier in the season, Castellanos took particular satisfaction from sending a boisterous crowd of 45,712 into a state of delirium Tuesday night. It got so loud at Citizens Bank Park that shortstop Bryson Stott said he cranked the volume on his PitchCom earpiece to 20, the highest possible setting, and still had to put his hands over his ears to hear.

“Seeing all of my teammates get fired up is great, and also seeing all of Philly get fired up as far as the first play of the World Series here in Philadelphia,” Castellanos said. “It’s a moment I’ll always remember.”

It was the moment he waited for all season.