Nick Castellanos, home run robber, embodies the 2023 Phillies’ mission: Be a little better (2024)

HOUSTON — It started last summer when Paco Figueroa felt he could push Nick Castellanos a little. Castellanos was, at best, moody. He was not engaged in right field. He did not feel comfortable with his new surroundings.

So Figueroa, the Phillies’ first-base coach who handles the outfielders, issued a challenge.

“I want your jersey dirty,” Figueroa said.

Castellanos started diving more for balls.

“Then,” Figueroa said, “I told him, ‘I want your jersey dirty in the front. Not just sliding on your ass.’”

Castellanos was one of the worst defenders in the majors last season. But, over time, he made small strides. Once the Phillies reached the postseason, Castellanos transformed his outlook on defense. He cared more. He made a sliding catch here at Minute Maid Park that saved Game 1 of the World Series.

“Playing in the playoffs last year definitely heightened my focus on defense to where it hasn’t been before,” Castellanos said Friday night. “Just because of how magnified all the games were. It just kind of happened by itself. And then now that I felt that before, there’s a new level of accountability I can have for myself.”

In the first inning of a 3-1 Phillies win over the Astros on Friday, Castellanos tracked a deep fly ball hit by Alex Bregman. Figueroa tells his outfielders to think about robbing home runs like an alley-oop in basketball. But Castellanos had never pulled back a homer in his life. He timed the jump from the warning track, snared the ball and landed on his butt. No one knew if he had caught it. It was Castellanos at his best — dramatic and diabolical. He revealed the ball. He stuck out his tongue.

“Let me tell you, that’s a huge play in the game,” Figueroa said. “It was a huge play. The momentum shift with the crowd. Badass.”

And, when Castellanos returned to the dugout, he had a message for Figueroa.

“I know you don’t like it because my jersey’s not dirty,” Castellanos told him. “But that was a nice catch.”

Nick Castellanos deked everyone! pic.twitter.com/I9BVmzXJWl

— MLB (@MLB) April 29, 2023

This was not the World Series, and there is no retribution now for what happened last November. The Phillies have to live with that forever. But Castellanos embodies the current mission. Push forward. Be a little better. Don’t assume what happened last year is guaranteed to happen again this year.

The Astros, no matter what month it is, are a measuring stick. This marked only the second time ever there was a World Series rematch in April. The Phillies elevated their game.

“They’re a good team,” Aaron Nola said. “I feel like we’ve played them a good bit the past few months. We know what kind of team they got over there. And they know what kind of team we have. So we’re kind of used to each other now.”

Early in the night, between innings, the Astros’ mascot performed an on-field skit. Orbit, a green Phanatic-lookalike creature, carried a briefcase onto the field. He opened it to reveal an oversized ring. The sold-out crowd yelled.

“To say that we all don’t understand what happened here last year would be a lie,” Castellanos said. “We just had their mascot stick their World Series ring in our face on the Jumbotron. I don’t know about anybody else but I pay attention to that stuff. You know?”

That’s the attitude onlookers have wanted from this team that has somewhat sputtered in its National League title defense. These Phillies started 6-10 just like the 2022 Phillies did. That team did not climb over .500 until June 11 — after the 59th game.

This year’s Phillies scrapped to a 14-13 record with Friday’s crisp win. They have pushed forward in the past two weeks, winning nine of 12 games.

It’s not perfect. Nola is still searching for the next gear on his fastball, but he mixed his curveball with cutters and changeups in the later innings to silence the Astros. Trea Turner has disappointed in his first impression. J.T. Realmuto hasn’t hit enough. Kyle Schwarber has struck out too much. The rotation, as a whole, has been inconsistent.

But the Phillies are treading water, and that is an acceptable state given the situation. They might regain Bryce Harper within a week. They’ll get a huge energy boost from that. They hope to have Ranger Suárez return to the rotation by the second week of May, and that will only strengthen the bullpen when Matt Strahm moves back to his intended role.

Things have settled. The Phillies began this series with 12 players on their 26-man roster who were not here for the World Series last November. It has required some adjusting.

The same can be said for the Astros, who did not have Yordan Alvarez or Jose Altuve to begin this rematch. And, still, it was a taut nine innings. Neither team walked a batter. The Phillies received contributions from the bottom of the lineup.

“It was a really good game,” manager Rob Thomson said.

After the win, inside the visitors clubhouse, a familiar song played. “Dancing on My Own” was supposed to be retired from the postgame playlist, but someone put it in the queue. The Phillies clinched a postseason spot here last October and threw a crazy party in that clubhouse. When they lost the World Series here, that room became a place for the players to memorialize an incredible journey.

So, there was a twinge of nostalgia for that Friday night. The Phillies are not chasing that feeling because it’ll never be the same. The goal is the same, but this has to be something different — its own thing.

Castellanos looked like he was having a good time.

“Honestly,” Castellanos said, “I’ve been having a pretty good time since I showed up in spring training.”

He met with Figueroa in the offseason. They both live in the Miami area. “Hold the bar for me high,” Castellanos said he told Figueroa. “If I’m slacking, please let me know. Don’t let me coast.” That’s a nice thought. Castellanos has passed the eye test in right field. The metrics like him. But, more important than anything, was what Castellanos said next about Figueroa.

“I trust him,” Castellanos said.

It’s early. There will be ups and downs to Castellanos’ season, as there will be for this team. For now, the positives outweigh the negatives, and that is worth appreciating. Castellanos being a better right fielder will not determine the fate of the 2023 Phillies. But it’s symbolic of the larger goal: Be a little better.

As he sat on the warning track and prolonged a sweet moment — Castellanos as the heel is his preferred state — he had one thought on his mind.

“F— yeah,” he said. “I got it.”

(Top photo: Thomas Shea / USA Today)

Matt Gelb is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Philadelphia Phillies. He has covered the team since 2010 while at The Philadelphia Inquirer, including a yearlong pause from baseball as a reporter on the city desk. He is a graduate of Syracuse University and Central Bucks High School West.