Aug 1, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos waves to fans before a game against the Detroit Tigers at Citizens Bank Park. (Grace Del Pizzo/On Pattison)
With Nick Castellanos out of the starting lineup for the second time in five games, it's clear that the Phillies now have an outfield rotation.
Max Kepler — who has shown signs of life in August, with a .281 batting average and .741 OPS — will be in right field Wednesday afternoon as the Phillies go for the sweep of the Seattle Mariners:
Going for the sweep
🆚: Seattle Mariners
🏟: Citizens Bank Park
⏰: 1:05 p.m. ET
📺: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBC 10, MLB Network
📻: 94 WIP, WTTM 1680
📸: Madeline Ressler/Phillies Nation pic.twitter.com/pDdysmdCWG
Does Castellanos view himself as part of a platoon in right field at this stage?
"Oh, I have no idea," Castellanos said Wednesday morning. "That's a question for Topper."
Perhaps a platoon isn't the right way to look at things, but this definitely appears to be a situation where four guys are competing for at-bats at three spots. Between Castellanos, Harrison Bader, Brandon Marsh and Kepler, no one is guaranteed to be in the lineup every day. (Weston Wilson might not be in the rotation as much as those four, but he's also playing relatively consistently in left field against left-handed pitching.) It's definitely a change for Castellanos, who played all 162 games last season.
"He [Thomson] told me yesterday that he wants to make sure my knee stays good," Castellanos said. "Bader is pretty frustrated right now, so he wants to get him consistent at-bats, or get him some more consistent at-bats. So he said bear with me. And I said, 'Whatever you need.'"
Castellanos jammed his left knee making the game-ending catch at Yankee Stadium on July 25. He was out of the lineup the next day, but hasn't gone on the injured list because of it. At this stage of the season, it's just kind of one of those things that's being managed.
Meanwhile, since joining the Phillies, Bader is hitting just .189 with a .593 OPS. The former Gold Glove Award winner has shown off tremendous center field defense, including adjusting pretty well to fielding balls off of "Monty's Angle" in left-center field at Citizens Bank Park. But the Phillies haven't yet seen the hitter who had a .778 OPS and was having a career-year at the plate before being traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Phillies.
Bader, though, didn't characterize his mindset in the same way that Castellanos did.
"I don't think my performance is frustrating," Bader said. "I think the lack of results can be a bit challenging, but in terms of everything leading up to whatever comes for the results, I've been pleased with everything. My process has been there. My pitch selection has been there. My intent has certainly been there.
"...You have to settle in. It's a really small sample size spread out over a long period of time," Bader continued. "It changes very quickly. I'm just poised to stay on the notion that you're always one swing away. So I wouldn't say I'm frustrated whatsoever. I just go out there, and if I'm not doing it with the bat, I'll do it defensively and on the basepaths and whatever I can do to help the team win."
Castellanos mentioned that Thomson hinted at giving Bader "consistent basis at-bats," or "some more consistent at-bats." As the Phillies try to get Bader going at the plate, could Thomson give him some runway to play every day in center field?
"I don't know about that, because I have to keep the other guys going too," Thomson said. "So I think it's probably gonna be more of a rotation than anything else."
Harrison Bader, Welcome to Philadelphia! 🔔 pic.twitter.com/BO56VUQYqF
Still, Thomson has been adamant that he believes Castellanos is an everyday player, and right now, he's not playing him every day. There definitely seems to be mixed messaging.
"I think they're all everyday players, to tell you the truth," Thomson said. "It's just, you gotta keep them all rested and sharp at the same time, if you can."
Thomson, though, isn't necessarily locked into having the quartet of Castellanos, Bader, Marsh and Kepler — with Wilson sprinkled in — competing for starts in the outfield the rest of the season.
"I can't tell you that," Thomson said. "I mean, if three guys get really hot and one's not."
The elephant in the room here is that Castellanos is in the fourth year of a five-year/$100 million deal. He's a multi-time All-Star that took exception to Thomson pulling him for a late-game defensive replacement earlier this year — even though almost all metrics supported that decision — and made a comment to the manager that got him benched the next day. It's hard to think Castellanos is thrilled with losing playing time, even if he's hitting just .194 with a .554 OPS since the All-Star Break.
For his part, Castellanos said that there continues to be mutual respect between him and Thomson, but did acknowledge that, like all players, he wants to play as much as possible.
"Well, I always want to play, but I'm not the manager of the team," Castellanos said. "That's his job to kind of manage the pieces that he has. The only thing I I can do is be ready to play."
Ultimately, the Phillies are 73-53. They're currently on track to win their second consecutive NL East title, and trying to fend off the Los Angeles Dodgers for the No. 2 seed in the postseason, which comes with a first-round bye.
There could come a point in the offseason where it makes sense for the Phillies to trade Castellanos if they don't plan to play him every day. Bader and Kepler might look for a more guaranteed role in free agency than they currently have with the Phillies. But in the meantime, they're trying to add a third red flag to the center field skyline at Citizens Bank Park.
"We're playing for far more than whether Harrison Bader gets a start or two more," Bader said. "There's just such a bigger picture here. I'm just pleased to be a part of it, and I know that my work ethic will allow that best version to come out when the team needs me most."
