Harp gives Castellanos a nice view in debut

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Despite feeling some butterflies putting on a Phillies uniform for the first time, Nick Castellanos said he felt pretty good in the batter's box in Sunday's 10-5 win over the Blue Jays at TD Ballpark.

But he may have felt even better in the on-deck circle.

That's because each of his first two times on deck ended with him strolling to the plate to greet Bryce Harper following a home run by the reigning NL MVP.

"I have the best seat in the stadium to watch those swings," Castellanos said of Harper's first two homers this spring. "First two times on deck, I get to see that? I hope I get to see that 50 times a year."

Phillies fans would certainly sign up for that. As for Castellanos, he went 1-for-2 with a single and a walk in his first game action since Oct. 3. After chasing some breaking balls -- "I hadn't seen any of those in a minute," he said -- and striking out in the first inning, Castellanos walked in the third before reaching out and poking a changeup into right field for a base hit in the fourth.

"I've always been somebody where it doesn't take me a lot of at-bats to feel good," Castellanos said. "Honestly, all three at-bats today, I felt pretty good."

That was the feeling for the majority of Philadelphia's lineup.

Didi Gregorius hit a home run out of the leadoff spot, where manager Joe Girardi slotted him in just to get an extra at-bat. Mickey Moniak homered for the third consecutive game. Top prospect Bryson Stott hit a two-run shot and worked a pair of walks, including one with the bases loaded.

"Seeing Castellanos up there was great," said Harper, who added a sixth-inning single in addition to his two homers. "I mean, being able to get him in the lineup today, I had a good feeling with him in our lineup. I thought everybody swung the bat well and everybody looked really good today."

The 10-run, 13-hit performance came without the club's other big offseason addition, Kyle Schwarber, in the lineup.

“We still don't have them all in the same lineup, you know?” Girardi said. “But I just feel like we've added a lot of offense. The organization has done a great job.”

Even with the Phillies’ new-look lineup flexing its muscles on Sunday, Castellanos knows there’s still a long season ahead -- but it’s hard not to get excited about the potential.

“It's no secret, right? We have a chance to be very, very good,” Castellanos said. “At the end of the day, it's our responsibility to do it. I've been on a lot of teams where, on paper, we should win the World Series, and we've come up short. So I'm not somebody that likes to talk about guarantees, but we definitely have pieces in place.”