Nick Castellanos is mentoring “good kid” Alec Bohm as Phillies lineup struggles continue
Nick Castellanos was born to play for the Philadelphia Phillies.
That much has been clear since he announced his own signing by posting a photo from the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
He bought Ben Simmons’ old house and saged the bad vibes away, and is emerging as a mentor to his younger teammates, especially Mickey Moniak and Alec Bohm.
This week, after Bohm’s viral comments, Castellanos went on Chris Rose’s Jomboy Media podcast to discuss everything.
Among the many great tidbits from Castellanos, was his insight into Phillies fans with the Bohm situation. Less than a month into officially being a Phillie, the veteran slugger already understands the people who love this team better than many Phillies who came before him:
"“The fact that he said [I f***ing hate this place] and they just empathized with him and were able to give him a standing ovation? I don’t know. Maybe this city just wants people that are real, that don’t bulls**t with who exactly they are. You know?”"
When Rose reminded listeners that Bohm is “still a young kid,” Castellanos agreed, and explained how he’s mentoring his teammate:
"“…he’s a really good kid, and a genuine kid. He was honest and genuine with how he felt about it. What else could fans want than just the truth?I sat right next to him [after his errors]. I made it a point. That’s because I just didn’t want him to feel alone. Guess who’s made three errors at third? [raises hand] Guess who’s played the position like, ‘Man, don’t hit it to me because I don’t want to f**k this up, because I don’t want these accomplished veteran pitchers mad at me’? [raises hand] That’s a lonely way to play the game.”"
Castellanos has one of the best bats in the business, but his defense leaves much to be desired. As someone who also played (and struggled at) third base, he’s a teammate Bohm can really relate to and learn from, offensively, anyway.
Also this week, Castellanos took the NSFW approach again (sensing a trend here) when he and Bryce Harper discussed the lineup’s struggle to plate runs.
While Harper took the diplomatic route, saying
"“On paper we look good, but we have to go out there and do it,”"
Castellanos was more explicit:
"“What can be done doesn’t mean s***.”"
If you didn’t already love Castellanos as a Phillie, how can you not now? He understands the fans, he cares about the team, and he just wants to crush baseballs. In short, he’s a perfect Phit.
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