Nick Castellanos’ rare feat this season was 42 years in the making
The right fielder became the oldest Phillies player since 1982 to play every game of the season.
Now that the Philadelphia Phillies' regular season is over, the second-best team in Major League Baseball is taking a well-deserved bye past the Wild Card round. One player probably grateful for the five-day break is right fielder Nick Castellanos.
Castellanos played all 162 games this season.
If you had taken a poll of Phillies fans after he had finished April hitting .193, most wouldn't have believed that Castellanos would be able to stick in the lineup every day for six months. Forget the odds of making it through a full MLB schedule while avoiding even a minor injury; his early-season performance had many convinced (or hoping) he'd get a day or two off at some point.
But Castellanos stuck in the lineup and turned his season around. He became one of the Phillies' most reliable and consistent hitters. His batting average rose to .229 in May, and then he hit .279 with an .817 OPS from June 1 until the Phillies wrapped up their season on Sunday.
Nick Castellanos’ rare 162-game feat this season was 42 years in the making
According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, Castellanos is the oldest Phillies player to play in all 162 games in 42 years, since the late Pete Rose in 1982 (subscription required). It has only happened 15 other times in franchise history since the league moved to a 162-game schedule in 1961. The last Phillie to accomplish the feat was Freddy Galvis in 2017.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson put the idea of playing every game into Castellanos' head on Opening Day, Gelb reports.
“Absolutely,” Thomson said about how much it meant for Castellanos to play 162 games, per Gelb. “Absolutely it does. I mean, at some point, it doesn’t matter how important it is to me. Maybe I have to do something different. But he just kept getting better as the year went on. So what are you going to do?”
It's an impressive feat that the 32-year-old veteran managed to pull off. Only three other players played in all 162 of their team's games this year: Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets' Pete Alonso. You could argue that Castellanos' 162 was a tougher task than the other three. Ozuna is a designated hitter, and Olson and Alonso, while on the field, are both first basemen.
This isn't new territory for Castellanos; he has had a few close calls with 162. He has hit the 157-game mark three times since debuting in 2013 with the Detroit Tigers, most recently last season. He also has a 154-game season under his belt.
“I’ve only taken, I think, eight Voltaren pills from the start of the season,” Castellanos said, per Gelb. “Maybe 10 Advil or so. I’m happy with the way I physically feel as I’m getting older.”
It doesn't sound like Castellanos plans on slowing down anytime soon.
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