GDT 9/19/25 Philadelphia Phillies (Walker, T) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (Nelson, R)

[zambonir]

lol this picture

Nick Castellanos’ big night lifts Phillies, but his potential role in playoffs...

[julio]

Dombrowski cannot just assume that Kyle Schwarber will be with the Phillies in 2026. I mean, we all want Kyle to return...but there is no guarantee of that. If Schwarber does not return... Castellanos becomes the DH, or at least, the principal DH, vs. LHP and some RHP.

If Schwarber does return... then I think they will try hard to move Castellanos.

[zambonir]

Well, it's not likely a deal for Nick is going present itself before Schwarber signs, with anybody. Or before Tucker and Alonso and several other better hitters sign. That is one of the things that will shape the market for him, in addition to defining what the Phillies need.

But I think Dombrowski - and only Dombrowski (and Middleton) can assume Schwarber will be back, if that's what they want. I don't think they will be outbid. Middleton signed off on paying David Robertson $12 million (the prorated salary +tax) for 10 weeks work. He's not going to quibble over an extra year or $5 million more in AAV at crunch time for an MVP-level player. Based on both what else the Phillies have and what else is available, they simply can't afford to lose him.

But hey if it doesn't work out they can still trade Nick and sign Hoskins to DH.

[VoteForKalas]

If Casty is our DH next season, that will be bad for the team. Do what is needed to move him. He was a duplicative signing with Schwarber from the start and it has not improved with time.

Yes, he was able to play RF when Harper got injured, but he has been barely a passable RF and the contract has forced us to play him more than he earned.

I have no hard feelings toward Casty and appreciate all he has done here, but we need team first players and someone with a more diverse set of skills. The OF needs to be a major focus for DD in the offseason and in no better scenario should Casty be part of the answer IMO.

[phillychuck]

I don’t think there are a whole lot of team-first players in baseball when the “team-first” idea involves them moving to the bench. Castellanos is like all the rest, except he does’t have the skill to BS around it. He shouldn’t be throwing Thomson under the bus, though.

As Julio said, they all see themselves as still at their peak of performance, even when they have fallen off substantially. Baseball is a sport where insane overconfidence is an advantage.

[VoteForKalas]

Marsh has not said a peep as far as I know nor has Rojas or Stott or Sosa or Bohm or Kemp or Wilson or Bader when he first got here.

Plus Schwarber, Harper, Realmuto and Turner are all team first guys who have done things for the team over their own comfort level or self interest.

The two that have spoken up, Kepler and Casty, have the weakest legs to stand on IMO when protesting that they should be starters and never subbed for during a game. I agree with AF, shut up, play hard, support your teammates and you might get a ring as a reward.

[zambonir]

Actually I think Marsh has occasionally expressed disappointment that the team hasn't always delivered on its apparent intention to let him see more LHP, but not as dramatically (as Kepler either). Apparently Soto also complained about his role which is what got him traded last year, more than his so-so performance.

A friend pointed out that Rob is very Canadian in his low-key communication style, and while it's true anyone who reads the news coverage understands how things are, the players shouldn't find out anything that way. And he was kind of wishy-washy the first couple of weeks. I thought it was masterful at the time. Not promising Bader anything and also not further humiliating Kepler or Nick. He let it take care of itself, or so it seemed. The fact that this is a much longer issue, even given Thomson has done nothing but write Nick's name in the line-up (he was just as bad as this in '22), suggest there is a little bit of disconnect, and that Thomson simply hasn't flat-out said "you will only start against LHP or be a PH," always."

Nick said he intends to just play hard and support his teammates and wants a ring. He just can't do the shut up part.

[BostonRoss]

I contrast Castellanos with Taijuan Walker, who has seen his role changing much more often than Nick and has not complained at all to my knowledge. They are both ~1 WAR players who are about the same age and have about the same level of MLB experience.

[zambonir]

Walker actually went viral for his grumpy tweet during the 2023 playoffs which had a lot of people assuming he'd be traded or marginalized. Instead it blew over (I think he deleted the tweet) and his own health and performance made him untradable (which didn't stop people from wishing for his release) and unpitchable. Until he wasn't. He's definitely a much better teammate than Nick in terms of attitude and also he adjusted his routine to to be better in the changing role. As did Kepler. Nick apparently slacking (taking less BP etc. on days he isn't gonna play instead of the opposite).

[allentown]

There are huge differences between the outburst and continued complaints from Castellanos and the milder complaint from Marsh. First, Castellanos was coming off a year in which he played every game and was still playing every game -- he blew up over being pulled for a late-inning defensive substitution. Nobody else on the team had an every inning of every game opportunity. His outburst was totally irrational. At the time, I think he had put up a negative 0,9 rWAR on the year, after contributing only 0.8 the prior season. What manager grants every inning of every game to a below replacement level player. Marsh wasn't playing nearly as much as Casty, and had put up positive 3 rWAR each of the prior seasons. He's now at positive 1.6. This has been a down year for Marsh, but he makes a positive contribution on the field and bases, which Casty doesn't provide.

[zambonir]

It was an outburst, of course it wasn't rational. But it was also a thing that happened in the moment and want away fast. He even claimed he wanted to know more about why his defense stunk and how he could improve. Now he's got bigger problems. It's unfortunate he hasn't been able to accept the new role, or that Bader is just better than him (and Kepler better against RHP). And that he mouthed off this time. But now they are saying the relationship wasn't good long before that. Even when he was playing every game.

Marsh is good, nobody's arguing that. But the statement wasn't that he said anything the same or worse than Casty's. It was that he didn't "say a peep."