The drama surrounding the Philadelphia Phillies and right fielder Nick Castellanos was short-lived, but boy, it didn't disappoint. After Castellanos was benched on Tuesday, ending his 236-game Iron Man streak, the veteran outfielder got the last laugh on Wednesday night.
In the span of 48 hours, Castellanos went from being pulled for defensive reasons to spending a game riding the pine to making a game-saving catch.
If you're just catching up, Castellanos missed Tuesday's game after making inappropriate comments to Phillies manager Rob Thomson after being pulled in the eighth inning of Monday's win. We never found out what he said, and likely never will. But rest assured, Casty came out on top after Wednesday's 4-2 Phillies win over the Miami Marlins.
Nick Castellanos serves some ice-cold redemption with game-saving catch
Back in his customary cleanup spot, Castellanos went 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. (Although you can argue that he was really 1-for-5 after the umpires biffed an easy catch call on a fly ball to center field). Regardless, that's his official line.
There was also some questionable base running in the seventh inning, when Castellanos got caught in no man's land between second and third and wound up in an ugly double play. The camera caught Castellanos and Thomson speaking in the dugout after the Little League effort on the base paths, but the interaction seemed innocent enough.
In addition to his contribution at the plate, the 33-year-old put the exclamation mark on his night, and the Phillies' win, with a phenomenal catch against the fence in right field to end the game. The running, leaping grab saved reliever Matt Strahm from blowing a three-run lead. With two out, both Marlins runners would have likely scored, tying the game, if that ball had eluded Castellanos.
Nick Castellanos makes the catch at the wall to seal the @Phillies win! pic.twitter.com/FSUHimpzns
— MLB (@MLB) June 19, 2025
Castellanos' defense has long been a source of contention among Phillies fans. In the eye test-vs.-advanced stats debate, fans are seemingly split down the middle. While the advanced metrics show that Castellanos is a well below-average defender — his -9 fielding run value is easily the worst on the Phillies and the worst among qualified right fielders — Wednesday's catch was as clutch as it gets.
Thomson, for one, was happy to see Castellanos bounce back after Tuesday's drama, according to Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic.
“I’m so happy for him," Thomson said after the game, per Varnes. "He hit the ball great, swung the bat great tonight, had great at-bats, then makes that tremendous catch and backs up the Ranger error in the right-field corner. Saved an extra base. Really played well.”
Phillies fans are also happy that Castellanos bailed out the bullpen as well. Hopefully this is all behind them, and Thomson and Castellanos can just move on and focus on what matters: winning more baseball games.