Castellanos earns 2nd All-Star nod after historic bounce back

PHILADELPHIA -- Nick Castellanos' bounce back season has been historic.

He ripped a solo home run to left field in the first inning and doubled to score a run in the seventh in Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.

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It was his 12th homer of the season and his 26th double, which ranks third in baseball. Castellanos, who fell a triple short of the cycle on Saturday, learned Sunday that he made the National League All-Star team for the second time in his career.

He is batting .316 with 12 home runs, 54 RBIs and an .874 OPS. He batted just .263 with 13 homers, 62 RBIs and a career-low .694 OPS last season.

“Last year, I wasn’t comfortable or relaxed in any part of my surroundings,” he said. “Also, building relationships with my co-workers, the city, the media. You know? I didn’t really have a grasp on all of it. I’m somebody that everything is connected. So if I don’t have peace in any of those relationships, how am I going to have it in the box?”

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Castellanos is at peace with himself, and he is making pitchers’ lives miserable. His OPS has jumped an eye-popping 180 points from 2022. If he maintains that pace, it would be the fifth-largest jump in OPS in consecutive seasons (minimum 500 plate appearances in each season) in Phillies history, according to Elias Sports Bureau. It would be the largest jump in 53 years, and the second-largest jump in 88 years:

• Dolph Camilli, +242 points (.776 OPS in 1935, 1.018 in 1936)
• Ed Delahanty, +220 (.635 in 1891, .855 in 1892)
• Sherry Magee, +216 (.736 in 1909, .952 in 1910)
• Don Money, +202 (.622 in 1969, .824 in 1970)

“I think a little bit of me being a control freak, I analyze a lot of things,” Castellanos said, asked about his success as he reaches 10 years of MLB service time this summer. “It’s kind of hard for me to turn my mind off, and just ‘Why, why, why, why, why?’

"Sometimes I feel like I can come up with the right answer if I have enough time. And then it’s just applying that each and every day to last as long as you can in this game, because it’s going to weed you out eventually. You know? But as long as you can wear the jersey, it’s something I definitely take pride in.”

Asked for an example of how he is a control freak as a baseball player, Castellanos said, “See, that’s a tough question because you said, ‘Regarding baseball.’ Baseball is a part of my life. I go about baseball the same way that I go in every aspect of my life. I think the proper person to answer that would be my wife [Jess]. She just knows that I’m very lenient, but I have my parameters. You know? As long as we operate within my parameters, I’m good.”

Castellanos signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the Phillies in March 2022. He captured the imaginations of Phillies fans with an entertaining introductory news conference in Clearwater, Fla.

Two things he said in that press conference stood out:

First: “I’ve played over 1,000 big league games and I have zero playoff wins. You know what I’m saying? So, cool. I’ve made money. I’ve hit homers. I’ve played on TV. But I haven’t won any games that matter. You know what I’m saying? I would like to do that.”

Second: “I don’t have a college degree. I hit baseballs.”

But following a hot start, Castellanos faded. Then he got frustrated. Then he stopped having fun.

The team’s late-season success and World Series-run rekindled his joy.

He came to camp this spring more comfortable than a year ago. That, along with a couple adjustments at the plate, have helped him return to form. He is hitting again. He is an All-Star again. Now he just needs to figure out if his son Liam will join the family in Seattle for the All-Star Game. Liam has a sleepaway baseball tournament that week in Viera, Fla.

“He’s been to an All-Star Game before,” Castellanos said. “He’s never played in a sleepaway tournament.”

It is a nice problem to solve.