While the Philadelphia Phillies look to once again have a solid season like last year where they won 90 games and made some noise in the postseason, there is one element that needs to be locked in if the team wants success. At the current moment, Phillies star Nick Castellanos is in a slump, but maybe Friday's win over the San Diego Padres could be the start of something great for the 32-year old.
It was a great day for the Phillies offense as they beat the Padres, 9-3, where five people hit home runs including Castellanos who hit his first one of the season as he has played in 27 games so far. Possibly getting that first home run out of the way could spark the confidence needed to get out of the slump as Castellanos said that “happy people hit better” according to Shaun O'Neill of MLB.com
“Anytime that you get confidence, that you have results, that just builds you up a little bit,” Castellanos said. “It lets you smile a little bit, get the happiness out. Like I said before, happy people hit better.”
Phillies manager and teammate confident in Castellanos
Currently on the season, Castellanos is hitting a .178 batting average with the aforementioned one home run to go along with eight runs batted in. His teammate in Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh, who also hit a dinger in the win over San Diego, said that “it was only a matter of time” for the player to get out of his rut.
“That was big-time,” Marsh said who also robbed the opponent's home run in the outfield besides hitting one. “It was only a matter of time. I’m excited to see what’s in store for him.”
While it is most likely expected for Castellanos to get back on track, this was worse than any other slump he has had in his career as the Phillies outfielder had never before reached April 26 without a home run besides the shortened season in 2020. However, being in his 11th season in the majors, it's just another hurdle to overcome which was stated by Philadelphia's manager in Rob Thomson who said that the home run in Friday's win over the Padres could be what “gets him going in the right direction.”
“He’s experienced,” Thomson said. “I touch base with him every day, and he feels good about himself. I see his at-bats getting better. He’s working diligently, as hard as anybody. Maybe that gets him going in the right direction.”
Castellanos focuses on staying positive
The talk of Castellanos' slump has been a topic of conversation for the Phillies for a while now, especially after last Tuesday's loss to the Reds where he went 0 for 4. Even when there was very little hope, he mentioned how “staying positive” is a key to getting out of it according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I have the same setup. Same keys,” Castellanos said. “Not looking too hard for something else. Staying positive. And that’s pretty much all I can do.”
As any baseball player can attest to, it is a feeling out process to get out of any slump and for Castellanos, it could be the most challenging. For him, he's taking the positives with each swing he attempts, even if the result is not a positive one for the Phillies, saying that “every swing that I'm taking is one I can stand behind.”
“I felt good yesterday, I felt good today,” Castellanos said Tuesday. “I think I took five, or six, or eight rips that I wanted to get off. And when I’m going right, every swing that I’m taking is one I can stand behind. And that’s the only thing that I’m focusing on now, because the rest is out of my control.”
Castellanos questions if break would truly help him
A common solution people might think about for him to get out of the rut is if the team gives the veteran a day or two of rest to clear the mind. However, even Castellanos is questioning if that would even help or make his problem even worse as he even mentioned that because of how much of a competitor he is, the Florida-native “enjoys the 162-game challenge.”
“I don’t know [if it would help], you know?” Castellanos said. “There’s the competitor in me that enjoys the 162-game challenge. I’ve never played 162 games. That’s something I would love to be able to do. But he’s the manager. The one thing I can say is that physically, I’ve put myself in a good position, because my body feels great. Now it’s just kind of finding that rhythm where — a couple of hits to fall, you get some happy-go-lucky energy, and baseball becomes a game again, instead of something you’re trying so hard to figure out.”
Castellanos stresses that baseball has “highs and lows”
Even with his past stints where he was on the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds, Castellanos has had slumps, but the reality is that every baseball player goes through some and it's up to them to get out of it. He even brought up last season where he his production dipped in the month of July and came out of it scorching where he emphasized that it's the “highs and lows” of baseball.
“I know last year, I was pretty much worthless in the month of July, you know?” Castellanos said. “And I’ve gone through stretches where I’m out of whack, and all of a sudden it clicks, and everybody’s like, ‘Holy [expletive], what did you figure out? Nothing. It’s baseball. The highs and lows.”
Last season, Castellanos hit a .272 batting average and 29 home runs to go along with 106 runs batted in as he looks to get back to that streak. So far, the Phillies are 17-10 as their next game is against the aforementioned Padres Saturday night in the second game of the series.
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