Nick Castellanos excels in leading his team to victory with his exceptional baseball skills | Baseball

The Phillies entered the ninth inning on Sunday towards the Mets needing one other hero. J.T. Realmuto ultimately gave them simply that, however what occurred earlier than his at bat was pivotal to profitable the sport.

Nick Castellanos confronted Edwin Diaz after the latter struck out Bryce Harper for the primary out. Castellanos rapidly fell behind 0-2 thanks to fouling off two excessive and inside fastballs at 97 MPH. Then he took a 3rd one for a ball earlier than preventing off a fourth at 99 MPH for an inside-out single to proper area to put the profitable run on base. Castellanos would then steal second to get himself into scoring place whereas Alec Bohm struck out. That stolen base, simply the thirty eighth in Castellanos’ profession, proved the distinction and allowed him to rating on Realmuto’s base hit.

Even earlier than coming to the plate in the ninth, Castellanos contributed to the win with a play in the sphere. José Ruiz entered in the ninth to maintain the deficit at 1-0. J.D. Martinez hit a fly ball down the appropriate area line that drifted shut to going out of play foul. But Castellanos was ready to hustle over and make the catch for the primary out, sticking his glove out nearly towards the wall, Who is aware of what would’ve occurred if the ball landed foul and Martinez bought one other probability.

Plays like these generally get misplaced in the heroics of the walk-off, however the walk-off doesn’t occur with out performs like these. Castellanos isn't any stranger to walk-offs this season both, as his 4 walk-off hits are tied for essentially the most in a single season in Phillies historical past since 1920.

Castellanos’ season numbers aren’t eye popping. He sports activities a .243/.302/.409 slash line with 20 HRs and 80 RBIs by means of the Phillies 149 video games getting into Monday, as he has began each recreation up to now. But he has been arguably their most constant hitter for the reason that starting of June with a line of .265/.321/.453. Again, this isn’t earth shattering, however these numbers are adequate for a 114 wRC+ over that span.

Now when you have a look at Castellanos’ profession slash line, these numbers are nearly an identical. Through his 12 seasons in the Majors up to now, Castellanos has a slash line of .273/.322/.468 with 111 wRC+. Yes, it has turn out to be clear that Castellanos’ 2021 season the place he hit profession highs in residence runs (34) and OPS (.939) is an outlier, probably to not be repeated. There’s little argument towards the concept he's overpaid for the participant he really is. But none of that implies that he can’t be a key contributor on a championship contending team.

Castellanos has gotten a few of the largest hits this season when the team wanted them most. Just over the past three weeks there’s the aforementioned single in the ninth inning, a two-run residence run in the primary inning towards the Rays in a recreation that completed a sweep, one other two-run residence run to take a 5-4 lead after falling behind 4-0 to the Braves, and a walk-off single towards Atlanta that successfully buried them in the NL East race.

If you go additional again in the season, there’s his walk-off double towards the Brewers on June 4th after Milwaukee walked Bryson Stott to face Castellanos. That sequence, which ended in a Phillies sweep, looms massive because the race for the highest two seeds in the NL winds down.

There was a ninth inning, game-tying residence run off of future teammate Carlos Estévez on April thirtieth that sparked a rally to overcome the earlier night time’s robust loss in Anaheim. There’s a pair of 4 hit performances on 6/18 and 6/30 that helped gasoline two one-run victories over the Padres and Marlins.

There’s his put up All-Star break by means of the top of August efficiency, the place Castellanos led the team with an .827 OPS throughout a span that included one of many worst slumps of Bryce Harper’s profession.

Perhaps nobody higher encapsulates the vibe across the 2024 Phillies higher than Nick Castellanos. Somehow thrilling and irritating, dominant and dominated, elite and sub-par, good and dangerous, Castellanos and the Phillies sit with the most effective file in baseball in mid-September regardless of a span in mid-summer that had many forecasting a collapse. They are poised to accumulate the franchise’s first division title since 2011. Not all people in your team wants to be a star, however you do want profitable ballplayers in your team if you need to succeed.