Sep 1, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos (8) celebrates his walk-off single during the eleventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
PHILADELPHIA — Death. Taxes. Walk-off hits by Nick Castellanos.
At least, in 2024, those are guarantees to happen.
Castellanos did it again. His game-winning single in the 11th inning on Sunday was his major league-best fourth walk-off hit this season, leading the Phillies to a crucial 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.
Why was it crucial? Well, it won the series for the Phillies and by doing so, it padded their cushion over the Braves to seven games with 25 games to play. The Phillies’ magic number to clinch the N.L. East crown is down to 19.
It was also crucial because it secured a 5-2 homestand against two tough teams, improved the Phillies to 12-7 in their last 19 games, a fairly good sign that they have made their way past their post-All Star break doldrums.
Castellanos provided all the offense for the Phillies. He tied it in the sixth with a two-run double off Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach, then ended the game with a two-out single off Grant Holmes. Both of Castellanos’ hits came in at bats that started with 0-2 counts.
“It makes me want to take (pitches) so I have two strikes more often,” Castellanos deadpanned to reporters after the game, before giving a more serious and thoughtful answer. “I think the thing that has gotten me the most comfortable in those spots is all the work I do on the field early. I don’t feel like I’m searching for a swing.
“I think that since we started doing that in May, it’s just built success slowly.”
What Castellanos is referring to is his pre-game, on-field, batting cage routine that is often well before the rest of the team takes the field for batting practice.
Sometimes Castellanos is joined by a teammate or two. Sometimes he’s been joined by his son Liam. But usually it’s just him, assistant hitting coach Rafeal Pena and first base coach Paco Figueroa.
“He’s got a two-strike approach now,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He spreads out a little bit, so his head doesn’t move. He doesn’t have a whole lot of body movement. He’s putting good swings on pitches, and he doesn’t case as much. He’s been great.”
How great?
In the last 43 games, Castellanos is slugging .509. He’s hitting .286 and has an .841 OPS with 13 doubles, a triple, seven homers and 33 RBIs. He’s even walked seven times, something he is never looking to do. But most impressively, he cut down on his strike out rate, going down on strikes just 30 times in 172 plate appearances (17.4%).
It’s hard to imagine where the Phillies would be without him. He’s been their most consistent hitter since early May. Since May 3rd, when he started this early-game workouts, Castellanos has been slashing .270/.321/.475 for a .796 OPS.
That’s in 433 plate appearances, which isn’t a small sample size. Compare it to his lifetime slash line over a 12-year major league career:
.273/,322/.470; .792 OPS
It’s Casty being Casty.
His offense wasn’t the lone story of the game, however. The Phillies got great pitching all night. Aaron Nola was sharp again across the first six innings, and then the bullpen was outstanding in the last five, holding the Braves without a run.
Carlos Estévez (3-4) pitched the 10th and 11th and retired all six batters he faced, stranding the ghost runner on base in both innings. Estevez pumped his fists with excitement and received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd, which was abuzz with a playoff-like atmosphere.
“It seemed like – not quite, but almost – like a playoff game with how the fans were into it,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Maybe it was because it was Sunday night, and they had time this afternoon to have some fun.”
The sellout crowd of 43,249 was noticeably vibrant. And the players could feel it too.
“It’s really cool, man” said Estevez, who has only faced two batters in the postseason in his nine-year career, which included stints with Colorado and the Los Angeles Angels. That came in the wild card game in 2017 while with the Rockies against Arizona. “It’s one thing when you see (the Philadelphia crowd) from the other side, but when you live it here, it’s really amazing.”
Only Matt Strahm faced any trouble out of the bullpen for Philadelphia, loading the bases on a single and two walks with one out in the ninth inning. But Strahm is at his best in dirty innings, and he bore down and got Atlanta villain Orlando Arcia to pop out (atta boy) and Luke Williams to fly out to keep the score tied.
As for Nola, he allowed two runs and four hits with one walk while striking out nine in six innings. He recorded 21 whiffs matching a season-high which also came against Atlanta in July. It was Nola’s 18th quality start this season, second-most in the N.L. behind teammate Zack Wheeler.
“His velocity has gone up a little bit and he held his velocity tonight,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “Consequently, the breaking ball is better because of the velocity. He was commanding all of his pitches. … He was fantastic.”
After a couple of bumpy starts in early August, Nola has been sensation in his past four outings, two of which were against the Braves and a third against A.L. West-leading Houston.
The Phillies have won all four of those games and in 25 innings, he’s allowed just four runs for a 1.44 ERA.
For the season, however, Nola is flying below the radar with just how good he’s been. He’s not in the Cy Young race, which is really a two-horse race between the Braves Chris Sale and the Phillies Zack Wheeler, but you’d be hard-pressed to find another pitcher in the N.L. who throws as much as Nola with better numbers after that. His 3.29 ERA ranks sixth in the N.L. but he’s thrown way more innings than the other three guys besides the two Cy Young Front runners who are ahead of him (Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene, San Diego’s Michael King, and Chicago’s Shota Imanaga).
He also ranks in the top eight in Wins and WHIP and is second in the league to only San Francisco ace Logan Webb in innings pitched.
ROSTER STUFF
Alec Bohm (strained left hand) missed a second straight game, but Thomson said Bohm was feeling better. Thomson was optimistic Bohm will play when the Phillies start a six-game trip Tuesday in Toronto.
The team also recalled RHP Tyler Phillips and INF Kody Clemens from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill the two additional roster spots afforded the team as MLB rosters expand to 28 in the month of September.
ON DECK
Phillies: RHP Tyler Phillips (4-1, 5.50 ERA) starts Tuesday against Blue Jays RHP Chris Bassitt (9-13, 4.27) in the first game of a two-game stop in Toronto.
