Castellanos' catharsis arrives in one glorious grab

HOUSTON -- While the phrase “World Series rematch” does have a certain ring to it, the concept, if we’re being honest, doesn’t really resonate all that much inside the clubhouses of the teams involved.

In fact, before the series opener between the Astros and Phillies on Friday at Minute Maid Park, most involved with the game considered it just another day at the office. But there was one exception -- right fielder Nick Castellanos, who has been open this week about how much last November’s World Series loss still stung, and who acknowledged that being in Houston brought back some not-so-pleasant memories.

But by the end of the night, it’s fair to assume there was no visiting player who enjoyed this night, or the 3-1 win, more than the Phillies' right fielder.

“To say that we all don't understand what happened here last year would be a lie,” Castellanos said. “We know that. We just had their mascot stick their World Series ring in our face on the Jumbotron. I don't know about everybody else, but I pay attention to that stuff.”

That made what happened in the first inning even sweeter for Castellanos, who is building a nice second year with the Phillies after a disappointing debut season in ’22.

Each team had recorded a solo homer in the opening inning, and when Alex Bregman connected with a 95.8 mph fastball from starter Aaron Nola, it looked like the Astros were about to take the lead. The drive traveled 346 feet, which is typically far enough for the ball to leave that area in right field.

Castellanos leaped up, reached into the stands, and, seemingly, missed it by an inch. A roar went up from Astros fans behind him. Castellanos slumped down, looking … disappointed? He slowly rose to his feet and started to run to the dugout.

It was only then that Castellanos smiled, flipped the ball to center fielder Cristian Pache and went in for the high-five.

The deke was almost as good as the catch.

“That was just me being excited,” Castellanos said. “I jumped up, I caught it, I took in the moment for a second sitting down. Then I saw Pache just there waiting for me, I don’t know, it just happened. It felt good.

“I've made some nice catches at the wall and stuff before but I think that was the first homer that I’ve pulled back over the fence, which was cool.”

Even if it meant making his team wait a while to find out the result.

“We couldn't see,” manager Rob Thomson said. “And especially in those dugouts, because I'm looking out through a screen, I can't tell. And [Alec] Bohm put his hand up, and I was like, ‘Well, I still can't tell.’ [Castellanos] finally came up with it. … Dramatic. Theatrics.”

“I didn't know if he had it or not,” Nola said. “Until he got up and showed the ball. When Bregman hit it, I thought it was gone.”

Bregman, apparently, was the only one -- besides Castellanos -- who knew the fate of the ball almost from the get-go.

“I knew he had caught it,” Bregman said. “It’s all good. He made a hell of a play. That wasn’t like a cheap robbed homer, like where you’re standing there and you reach up. He went up and got it. Tip your hat to him.”

A 162-game season isn’t designed to allow players to brood too much about a loss, or overthink a win. As soon as one game ends, the focus shifts to the next, and this pattern continues, relentlessly, for six months. But then there are the stinging losses -- Game 6 of the World Series, for example -- that aren’t going to just go away.

Castellanos acknowledged this ahead of the series opener this week, saying “I can’t block it out. Those memories are too strong to pretend that they don’t exist.”

In that respect, Friday’s win -- punctuated by Nola’s best outing of the year and clutch hits from the bottom of the order -- could be viewed as cathartic. Especially for the player who carried the extra burden of making the last out of the World Series through much of his offseason.

“Honestly, I've been having a pretty good time since I showed up in Spring Training,” Castellanos said. “I’m just honest with how I feel about certain things and yeah, being able to make that play here, against a team that beat us in the Fall Classic, it definitely feels good. Running in across the field and getting booed after making that catch, feels good.”