WASHINGTON — There were moments in the last six months when Nick Castellanos typed the words with his thumbs. Something, either mental or physical, bothered the 32-year-old outfielder. He’d compose the message to send to Rob Thomson.
Hey, I think I might need a day.
Thomson was the one who had put this idea in Castellanos’ head. The Phillies manager did not think much of it at the time. He can now admit that he looked at a few of his veteran players during batting practice on Opening Day. “Hey, 162,” Thomson told them. It wasn’t just Castellanos. But Castellanos pointed back at Thomson that afternoon. He never had 162 games as a goal. He liked the sound of it.
So, whenever he was filled with doubt about reaching that number, he sat there. He thought.
“But,” Castellanos said, “I just could never bring myself to send the text.”
On Sunday, Castellanos will become the oldest Phillies player to play in all 162 games in a season since Pete Rose in 1982. This will be the 16th time since 1961 — when the league adopted a longer schedule — that a Phillie has done it.
Castellanos might be the only player in Major League Baseball to play in all 162 games this season. Three players — Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna and Pete Alonso — could reach the mark if both games of a Braves-Mets doubleheader are played on Monday. It is a dying art.
About a month into the season, when Castellanos slogged through a brutal start, Thomson sensed how much 162 meant to his outfielder. He could have benched Castellanos. He didn’t. If it mattered to Castellanos, it mattered to the manager — within reason.
“Absolutely,” Thomson said. “Absolutely it does. I mean, at some point, it doesn’t matter how important it is to me. Maybe I have to do something different. But he just kept getting better as the year went on. So what are you going to do?”
It’s not only that Castellanos played in all 162 games; he also improved as the season unfolded. He ended April batting .193/.258/.263. He’s hit .268/.323/.467 since. He batted .276 in June, .275 in July, .275 in August and .292 in September. He is not perfect; the Phillies envisioned Castellanos would slug more. He will chase too much. But, if Castellanos displays consistent work in the postseason, he will be valuable. He now has a better two-strike approach.
And he was always there. Thomson’s idea stuck in Castellanos’ head. “When he puts his mind to something,” utilityman Weston Wilson said, “he’s going to make it work.” How powerful can a good idea be once it enters Castellanos’ mind?
“That’s a sick question, bother,” Castellanos said. “How powerful can it be? That only depends on how obsessive-compulsive the personality is that gets the idea.”
The first 185 times Castellanos came to the plate this year — spring training included — he had zero doubles. This bothered him. On May 6, he hit a fastball 388 feet to right-center field at Citizens Bank Park. He turned toward the Phillies dugout and pointed to his left foot on second base.
As the inning ended with Castellanos stranded on base, he handed his helmet to first-base coach Paco Figueroa. “Hey,” Castellanos said, “I finally got my first double.” Figueroa nodded.
“You’re still going to end up with 30,” Figueroa told him.
Last week, after Castellanos laced his 30th double of the season to left field, he reminded Figueroa about what he said. The coach had forgotten. “Pretty cool,” Figueroa said. The two Miami natives spend a lot of afternoons together in the outfield during the season. They never talked about 162.
“I’m proud of him as a player and as a human being,” Figueroa said. “And when I say proud of him, I’m proud of him like a son. I’ve seen his work and what he’s done. I’m happy for him.”
Figueroa is only nine years older than Castellanos.
“But the way he acts sometimes, he’s like my kid,” Figueroa said. “He shoots at me, I shoot back at him. And that’s what makes a good relationship.”
The quest started well before spring training. Castellanos learned jiu-jitsu last winter with his son Liam. He increased the frequency of other winter workouts. Castellanos said he is more active in the offseason than he is during the season. But, when he found a routine in mid-May that felt right, it involved more work in the afternoons — including a one-on-one batting practice session on the field.
“It’s just having the patience to get into your body every day,” Castellanos said. “I want to know my body better than the trainers do.”
Castellanos was a rookie on the 2014 Detroit Tigers, a veteran team paced by Miguel Cabrera, Torii Hunter, Ian Kinsler and Victor Martinez. They set a standard in Castellanos’ mind.
He had only five games as a designated hitter this season.
“I’ve only taken, I think, eight Voltaren pills from the start of the season,” Castellanos said. “Maybe 10 Advil or so. I’m happy with the way I physically feel as I’m getting older.”
The season-long grind proved it.
“There could be a lot of people who could have gone about it a different way than the way that he did,” Kyle Schwarber said. “He kept plugging. He kept going out there and working and trying to figure it out. Other people might not have chosen that route. And that’s what you give him credit for. He has done it the right way.”
Or, as lefty reliever Matt Strahm said: “After knowing Nick for two years, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. Just his mentality — what he wants out of this game and what he wants to put into it.”
The mental grind of 162 games, Castellanos said, far outweighs the physical. The new season starts Saturday when the Phillies host Game 1 of the National League Division Series. Castellanos fueled the Phillies in the 2023 NLDS, then fell into a deep slump during the NLCS.
A ring is more important than anything else. It’ll take consistent, unwavering work for a month.
“He sets the example for our whole team,” Figueroa said. “He’s always been, for me, the silent leader of our club. And it’s just leading by example. That’s what he does. Nick is the same guy every fucking day. No matter if he’s doing terrible, if he’s doing great, he’s the same guy.”
Castellanos tested that in 2024. He knows time is undefeated. But, for six months, he pushed back.
“This,” Castellanos said, “has been the season that required the most perseverance for me.”
(Top photo: Rich von Biberstein / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
