If Nick Castellanos woke up on Sunday and looked at the standings, he might've smiled. Castellanos' ex-team, the Philadelphia Phillies, owned the worst record in Major League Baseball at 9-18, while his current squad, the San Diego Padres, owned the best record in MLB at 18-8.
And while Castellanos himself hasn't done much to help San Diego's success (7-for-48 at the plate so far this season), that hasn't stopped him from irritating Phillies fans by virtue of his existence and perspective on what really went down with him in Philadelphia last season, a saga that, according to Castellanos, was overblown by The Athletic's Matt Gelb in an article designed to stir up controversy and drive clicks, not tell the truth.
Speaking to Annie Heilbrunn of The San Diego Union-Tribune this past week, Castellanos didn't shy away from throwing some shade at Gelb and the Phillies media.
Nick Castellanos says the Phillies media operates with a sub-par character
Castellanos revealed to Heilbrunn that he had ex-teammates on the Phillies letting him know that Gelb had been sitting for a long time on the viral story that was released in February, which detailed -- among other things casting Castellanos in a villainous light -- the "Miami incident" in which Castellanos brought a beer into the dugout in the middle of a game after getting benched.
Castellanos put out his own explanation letter on Instagram following Gelb's story going live, and it's clear that Castellanos is still not thrilled with how he was treated by the Phillies media.
"That just kind of shows, for me, the character of the media that’s over there," Castellanos told Heilbrunn. "Because that (incident) happened seven months (before the article was published) ... They’d rather be controversial than truthful."
Castellanos also revealed to Heilbrunn that he was specifically instructed by the organization not to talk with the media about the Miami incident, even after he spoke with manager Rob Thomson about his (Castellanos') need to be authentic with reporters and not lie about the situation.
Rob Thomson's struggles aren't helping to boost the Nick Castellanos villain narrative
The thing that stings Phillies fans most about Castellanos' alleged falling out with Thomson is that he might end up on the right side of history. Thomson's seat continues to get warmer in Philly, even if president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski isn't admitting it (the same Dave Dombrowski who told Castellanos that the Phillies needed him to be a platoon guy in 2026 before ultimately releasing him).
With Castellanos also relating to Heilbrunn that nearly all of his ex-teammates on the Phillies still talk to him and check in (there's no bad blood), one begins to get a sneaking suspicion that Thomson is a bigger problem than Castellanos ever was. Then again, it all depends on who you believe.
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