Why Are the Philadelphia Phillies Open to Trading Star Slugger Nick Castellanos?

Philadelphia Phillies could be looking to make drastic changes this offseason. After getting dumped in the NLCS despite being the favorites, the Fightin’ Phils are ready to take tough measures. The Phillies have been contenders for the past two years, playing the World Series in 2022 and NLCS in 2023. But the NL side is failing to take the ultimate step towards glory. One of the main reasons for their loss in the NLCS was their bad hitting. They had superior hitters across the board, but on the final day, their players laid down their weapons. Nick Castellanos was the one major name among them and, as it stands, he might be the one to be removed from the squad.

Although Nick Castellanos had a great 2023 and was named an All-Star, why are the Phillies ready to remove him from the squad? There is more than one reason for this decision. And the possible Castellanos trade might shake up quite a few positions in the team.

The streakiness and indiscipline of Nick Castellanos has turned off the Phillies

Though Nick Castellanos has been quite good for the Phillies since the day he joined them in 2022, there are a few tendencies that have rubbed the team in the wrong way. “Artist” has always shown that he is capable of big hits but has never been a consistent player. This has become even more clear with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Even though Castellanos’ 2023 stats are respectably good with him batting at .272/.311/.476, but even in the regular season he was quite streaky. In April, his OBS was .878, then in May it fell to .695 then rose again in June with .954 and fell once more in July to .497, showcasing inconsistency.

This inconsistency became more pronounced in the postseason. He hit 4 home runs in the NLDS but then had only one hit in the 7 games of the NLCS. The third baseman’s performance was the one that highly disappointed the fanbase. But an even more troubling sign was his apparent inability to avoid swinging. He constantly got caught swinging at pitches that were out of the zone. The NLCS was the peak wherein he swung at 50% of those pitches which led to him getting 11 strikeouts.

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All of these reasons may be enough for the Phillies to look to trade Castellanos. Though he plays as a third baseman, the Phillies already have a third base player that can replace him if the need arises. That player is their star, Bryce Harper. Yes, Harper might have permanently shifted to first base, but plans often change in baseball. This could lead to a domino effect, which could lead to the Fightin’ Phils reuniting with their first baseman Rhys Hoskins. The player missed out on 2023 due to injury.

Offseason links of Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies will be looking to strengthen their bullpen as the chances of their ace Aaron Nola leaving have increased considerably. Their president Dave Dombrowski has made it clear that their focus will be on pitchers this offseason. If Nola does depart, the Phillies might go hard for the Minnesota Twins’ ace, Sonny Gray, who recorded an ERA of 2.79 and had one of his best years in the league yet.

Another massive name that the Phillies are linked with is the Japanese two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani. With the Phillies looking to become perpetual contenders for the World Series, this offseason is quite important for them. The team has almost tasted the biggest success in these two years, could they turn their third time into a charm?

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