Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos made headlines over the last few days and it wasn’t because his name was in trade rumors this offseason.
Castellanos joined Chris Rose on The Chris Rose Rotation podcast to offer his take on who should’ve won the 2024 National League MVP Award. Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani unanimously won the prestigious award for his historic season, but Castellanos believes there was a more deserving candidate.
Nick Castellanos offers hilarious perspective on the ‘real’ NL MVP
Ohtani slashed .310/.390/.646 with a 1.036 OPS, 54 home runs and 130 RBI. He stole 59 bases, becoming the first player in Major League Baseball history to join the 50-50 club (50 home runs and 50 stolen bases).
The Japanese superstar earned the third MVP Award of his career and second consecutive. Ohtani went on to win the World Series in his first season with the Dodgers.
It’s hard to imagine anyone more deserving of the award in 2024 other than Ohtani. Still, Castellanos thinks that former New York Mets middle infielder and current free agent Jose Iglesias should’ve been given the hardware.
“I’m saying that him going to the Mets and being himself got the organization to move in one direction,” Castellanos told Rose about Iglesias. “Shohei Ohtani played a huge part in the Dodgers winning. I don’t know if he’s the sole purpose of the Dodgers moving in one direction.”
The Mets signed Iglesias to a minor league deal ahead of the 2024 season. The 35-year-old was called up in late May and helped turn the Mets’ season around after taking over the starting second base position.
Iglesias had a .417 batting average in June, his first full month with the big league team. The veteran slashed .337/.381/.448 with a .829 OPS, 16 doubles, four home runs and 26 RBI in 85 games while playing elite defense.
Not only did Iglesias have an exceptional year at the plate and defensively, but he also served as a spark and a mentor to the team.
“If you’re looking at the MVP as having the most weight on creating wins for your team, there’s no other player that has had that much weight as Jose Iglesias,” Castellanos said about the Cuban-born player. “Because I think with him being able to come in and bring that Latin spark, knock the ice off Lindor, finally got [Mark] Vientos probably comfortable to be able to be an everyday third baseman. And now, a bunch of guys that looked like they had no direction, running in all different directions in the beginning of the year.”
The Mets’ $341 million shortstop from Puerto Rico, Francisco Lindor, struggled mightily during the first few months of the 2024 season. He turned his season around at about the time Iglesias was called up to the Mets, particularly finishing strong in the last two months of the season and into the postseason. Lindor finished second in MVP voting behind Ohtani.
Mark Vientos, who has Latin heritage, was a highly rated prospect, but he struggled in his first two seasons at the major league level. The 25-year-old settled in as the Mets’ everyday third baseman in 2024, playing above-average defense while also coming up with clutch hits at the plate. Phillies fans might remember his .563 batting average, four extra-base hits and five RBI in the NLDS.
Iglesias isn’t just a baseball player, he’s also a singer performing under the name Candelita. He released the song “OMG” and even performed it for his teammates and the fans at Citi Field in a postgame concert after a late June win over the Houston Astros.
“OMG” became the Mets’ rallying cry as the season progressed and into their improbable playoff run. A custom sign was made for Iglesias and the Mets that the players would celebrate and take pictures with after home runs in the dugout.
"They made the playoffs, got to where they did while the whole Mets organization had the OMG signs where everywhere from in the city to the stadium,” Castellanos said. “The way I look at baseball, Jose Iglesias is unanimous National League MVP.”
Castellanos’ hilarious perspective on the 2024 MVP might have to do with the fact that the Phillies play in the same division as the Mets and were eventually eliminated from the playoffs by them. He got to see Iglesias and the Mets’ culture firsthand. Nonetheless, Ohtani was the only real candidate for the award.