Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Two hits, double in win
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Castellanos went 2-for-4 with a double in Sunday's win over the Cubs.
Castellanos was the lone Phillie to record more than one hit in a low-scoring 2-1 victory. The 31-year-old Castellanos hasn't displayed much power of late -- Sunday's double was his first extra-base hit since May 9, a span of 10 games. Overall, he's still slashing a very solid .303/.349/.472with five home runs, 26 RBI, 32 runs scored and two stolen bases in 192 plate appearances this season.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Three-hit effort in win
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Castellanos went 3-for-4 with a walk, one RBI and one run scored in Saturday's 7-4 win over the Rockies.
Castellanos was one of four Phillies with multiple hits in the win. The outfielder has been swinging the bat well lately, going 12-for-32 (.375) with five extra base-hits and six RBI over his last eight contests. For the season, he's up to a .325/.374/.517 slash line with five home runs, 25 RBI, 30 runs scored, a stolen base and 14 doubles through 39 contests.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Swats fifth homer
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Castellanos went 3-for-4 with a double, a two-run home run and a second run scored in Tuesday's 8-4 win over the Blue Jays.
His fourth-inning shot off Alek Manoah gave the Phillies a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Five of Castellanos' last seven hits have gone for extra bases as he continues to tear the cover off the ball, and he now sports a .317/.367/.525 slash line on the season with five homers, 24 RBI and 28 runs through 36 games.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Launches fourth home run
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Castellanos went 2-for-5 with a solo homer in Saturday's 6-1 win over Houston.
Castellanos took Cristian Javier deep for a solo home run in the fourth inning to get the Phillies on the board. After going without a home run in his first 21 games, Castellanos has belted four long balls in the last seven games and has hit safely in nine of his last 10 appearances. After managing just 13 homers in 524 at-bats in 2022, Castellanos is on pace to best that total after putting up four in just 108 at-bats so far this season.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Clubs two-run homer
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Castellanos went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run along with an additional RBI and run scored in Wednesday's victory over the Mariners.
Castellanos drove in three of the Phillies' six runs Wednesday, taking Logan Gilbert yard for a two-run shot in the second frame and plating Bryson Stott on a fifth-inning single. The veteran right fielder has carried a hot stick through 25 games this season, slashing .333/.396/.531 while hitting in the heart of a powerful Philadelphia lineup.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Powers up in Saturday's win
Rotowire
Castellanos went 3-for-4 with a double and two solo home runs in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Rockies.
The veteran outfielder ended the longest power drought of his career -- his last homer came Aug. 27 of last season -- with an impressive performance that included launching the game-winning blast in the sixth inning off Kyle Freeland. Castellanos has been productive in 2023 prior to breaking out, however, and on the season he's batting .310 (26-for-84) with 10 doubles, 13 RBI and 18 runs in 22 contests.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Three hits in Tuesday's matinee
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Castellanos went 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI during a 7-4 win over the White Sox in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader.
The veteran outfielder went 0-for-3 in the nightcap, but the Phillies only managed one hit against Lucas Giolito and the Chicago bullpen to split the twin bill. Castellanos is still looking for his first homer of 2023 but does have nine doubles, and he's slashing .294/.385/.426 through 18 games with 10 RBI and 15 runs.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Simplifying swing
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Castellanos worked with hitting coach Kevin Long over the offseason to simplify his swing following a disappointing first season in Philadelphia, Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Castellanos homered just 13 times while slashing .263/.305/.389 in his Phillies debut, a line which made him a below-replacement player according to WAR when factoring in his poor defense. Sliders posed a particular problem, and opposing pitchers knew it, throwing him sliders 32.0 percent of the time compared to 21.8 percent against the rest of the league. Long noticed while reviewing the outfielder's film that Castellanos had added multiple extraneous movements of his bat, head and hands, which may have given him less time to see the pitch and decide to lay off as it dove out of the zone. It's too early to say if the changes will have any impact, but there's at least now a narrative to support those betting on a bounce-back.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Out following Monday's clincher
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Castellanos is not in Tuesday's lineup against the Astros, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Like many of the Phillies' regulars, Castellanos gets the day off after securing a postseason berth Monday. Dalton Guthrie is starting in right field and hitting eighth.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: On bench for nightcap
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Castellanos isn't starting the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against the Nationals.
Castellanos started Saturday's matinee and went 1-for-4 with a run, an RBI and a strikeout. Matt Vierling will take over in right field and bat eighth for the second game of the twin bill.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Catches breather Thursday
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Castellanos is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Cubs.
Castellanos went 3-for-4 in Wednesday's game, but he returned from nearly a four-week absence the day before, so he will be held out Thursday for maintenance purposes. Expect him to get an at-bat -- or perhaps more -- at some point in Thursday's contest.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Comes off IL on Tuesday
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Castellanos (oblique) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list prior to Tuesday's game against the Cubs.
He missed almost the whole month with a right oblique strain. Castellanos is hitting .297 with five home runs in 37 games in the second half and did not go on a rehab assignment.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: No rehab assignment needed
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Castellanos (oblique) will not need a rehab assignment and is expected to return sometime during next week's series against the Cubs, which runs Tuesday through Thursday, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.
Castellanos has missed the last three weeks due to a strained right oblique, but his recovery is evidently going well. He hit off a pitching machine Friday and apparently convinced the Phillies that he won't need any game action before returning to the team. The Phillies currently sit in playoff position but have yet to lock up a wild-card berth, so it makes sense that the team would want to have Castellanos back as soon as possible.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Hitting against machine
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Castellanos (oblique) hit off a high-velocity pitching machine Friday, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Castellanos hasn't played in consecutive games since the end of August and has been slowly working his way back from an oblique strain. He expressed his desire to avoid a rehab assignment in Triple-A Lehigh Valley despite interim manager Rob Thomson's recommendation that he do so. It's uncertain what lies in Castellanos' near future, but a rehab assignment would figure to keep him out of the big-league lineup for another week.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Working toward return
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Castellanos (oblique) ran around the bases Tuesday, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Castellanos was put on the injured list earlier this month with a right oblique issue. Interim manager Rob Thomson said that the "best-case scenario" for the veteran outfielder is a rehab assignment with Triple-A Lehigh Valley this weekend. If all goes well, there remains a possibility he can return before the end of the season.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Takes dry swings
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Castellanos (oblique) was able to take some dry swings Saturday, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.
Castellanos has been out with an oblique injury for the past two weeks. He paused his rehab work briefly earlier this week after he continued to feel sore while swinging, but he's been able to start back up again. While that's certainly a positive sign, he still has work to do before he's activated off the injured list.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Still feeling sore
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Castellanos (oblique) felt sore when swinging earlier this week and has backed off rehab work for a few days, Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Castellanos has been out since early September with an oblique strain. The Phillies haven't provided an updated timeline for his return, but time is getting short for him to play a meaningful number of games before the end of the regular season. He at least hasn't been fully shut down, as he's merely stopped swinging and is still able to throw and do work in the outfield.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Sent to IL with oblique injury
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The Phillies placed Castellanos (oblique) on the 10-day injured list Sunday, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.
Castellanos missed three games earlier in the week due to turf toe, but it's a right oblique strain that will now force him out until at least the second half of September. According to Gelb, the Phillies are classifying Castellanos' oblique injury as "mild," leaving the team optimistic that he'll be in line for a minimum-length stay on the shelf. Dalton Guthrie was summoned from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to provide depth in the outfield while Castellanos is out, but it'll be Nick Maton who receives the starting nod at Castellanos' usual spot in right field Sunday against the Giants, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Dealing with oblique issue
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Castellanos, who isn't starting Saturday against San Francisco, will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of a right oblique injury that he sustained Friday against the Giants, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Castellanos was removed from Friday's loss to the Giants in the bottom of the sixth inning since he apparently sustained an oblique issue during his second at-bat of the game. He recently missed three games with turf toe, and the extent of his oblique issue is unknown. It's not yet clear whether he'll be forced to miss additional time, but his MRI should help provide more details regarding his status.
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Phillies' Nick Castellanos: Getting MRI on oblique
Rotowire
Castellanos will undergo an MRI on his right oblique Saturday, which explains why he isn't in the lineup against the Giants, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Castellanos missed three games earlier in the week with turf toe, but he's now dealing with what appears to be an entirely separate injury. The outfielder reportedly felt something in his oblique during his second at-bat of Friday's blowout loss and wound up exiting the game. Whether or not he's at risk of missing an extended period should become clear once the results of his MRI are known.
