Phillies Skipper Explains ‘Difficult Situation’ With Nick Castellanos, Drops ‘Bottom Line’

The Philadelphia Phillies are set to return next season with two out of three of their most consequential free agents back in the fold.

The team negotiated returns with designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and catcher JT Realmuto, while watching long-time starter Ranger Suarez leave for a new contract with the Boston Red Sox.

Now, it seems the Phillies are looking to bring back most of their roster from last year with some slight tweaks at the margins. The team will be giving top prospect Justin Crawford a chance to serve as an everyday outfielder and have brought in some new bullpen arms. But perhaps their biggest replacement from last year will be Adolis Garcia, who is poised to play right field as the team parts ways with Nick Castellanos.

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Though Castellanos is still rostered with the Phillies as of this writing, it seems like only a matter of time before he is removed from the team following a high-profile incident in the middle of last season and a significant step back in offensive production.

“It has been apparent for the past few months that Castellanos’ time with the organization would probably come to an end this winter,” Anthony Franco wrote for MLB Trade Rumors. “He hasn’t performed up to expectations for most of his time in Philly… Castellanos has also had a couple public spats with manager Rob Thomson. The skipper benched Castellanos for a game in June after the player made what Thomson considered ‘an inappropriate comment’ when being lifted for a defensive replacement.”

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Now Thomson has provided an update on his relationship with Castellanos, though he wouldn’t detail the exact nature of last season’s comment heard around the world.

“I want players to not be confused,” Thomson told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber. “I want them to understand exactly what’s going on, and if there’s something going on with them that my door is always open, and I expect them to come in and they need to communicate with me, too, because I don’t know. I’m not a mind reader. So, it was just a difficult situation.”

While Thomson didn’t detail the nature of Castellanos’ precise comment last season, that response suggests that he feels the player shares at least some of the blame for their miscommunication about his ongoing role on the team. And the Phillies skipper also boiled down the controversy to a bottom line about why the outfielder will be moving on this winter.

“The thing with Nick, the bottom line is, he wants to play every day,” Thomson added, per Lauber. “He wants to play every inning, every day, and you can’t fault him for that. I think I respect him a great deal, just for being that guy.”

And while that desire might have earned the manager’s respect, it is not a role that Castellanos will be able to play for the Phillies going forward.