Phillies recall Buddy Kennedy; Nick Castellanos reaches goal of playing in all 162 games

WASHINGTON — The Phillies made a small roster move on Sunday morning, recalling infielder Buddy Kennedy from the spring training complex. To make room on the active roster, they optioned relief pitcher Tyler Gilbert to the complex. Center fielder Johan Rojas was in Philadelphia, and was still sick, and left fielder Austin Hays was resting a sore back.

Manager Rob Thomson said the decision to rest Hays was more precautionary than anything else.

“Just getting through today,” Thomson said. “Getting people off their feet. Making sure we have coverage because Rojas is not here. He’s feeling a little better but they just wanted to keep him [in Philadelphia]. And Hays is feeling a little bit better. I’m sure he could play today, if we had to.”

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It’s unclear why Hays’ back is acting up, but Thomson said he isn’t overly concerned. A few players were to be subbed out throughout the game, including Nick Castellanos. Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto were not in the starting lineup.

It was a special day for Castellanos in particular. He began the season with the goal of playing in all 162 games, and on Sunday, he achieved it.

“I think it’s great,” Thomson said. “You don’t see it very much these days. It goes to his sort of old-school thought process and approach. It’s something he wanted to do, and I’m really proud of him, I’m really happy for him. Like I said, a couple of days ago, he’s gotten better as the season has gone on. It’s not like at the end here he’s sucking wind. He’s thriving.”

The right fielder has hit .274/.342/.500 over his last 30 games, with six home runs. He’s hit .292/.357/.494 in September.

From now until Saturday, the goal will be resting players, while making sure they don’t get stale. This is especially true for the hitters, who will spend the bye week doing some extra high-velocity work to make sure they are prepared for playoff pitching.

The Phillies will take Monday off, hold a mandatory workout on Tuesday, an intrasquad game on Wednesday, an optional workout on Thursday, and a mandatory workout on Friday.

They are going to try to simulate a real game as closely as possible in the intrasquad game. The Phillies will pipe in crowd noise, use umpires, and play walk-up songs to simulate a real game. Thomson is also going to try to find an incentive for his players, to create some more intensity.

“I’m thinking about that, because I think there should be a carrot out there,” he said.

Financial incentives won’t work, for obvious reasons. It’s possible he goes with something related to the team’s fantasy football draft next year.

“Do you know how much these guys make?” Thomson said. “I’m not sure how much money I can give them.”