Nick Castellanos speaks on his tough debut year with the Phillies, ready to go with a more simple approach in 2023
Nick Castellanos has been a premiere hitter in this league for many years.
Castellanos signed a 5-year, $100M contract with the Phillies back on March 22nd, just a few weeks before the 2022 season kicked off for Nick and the Phillies. Going into the season with high expectations after coming off the best season of his career, Castellanos was expected to be the impactful bat behind Bryce that the Phillies needed.
It turned out to be one of the worst seasons of Nick’s career. Slashing just .263/.305/.389, Castellanos turned into a near liability in the Phillies’ offense for a good portion of the season. Nick hit just 13 home runs in 524 ABs and seemed to have lost all of his power.
Nick Castellanos sat down with Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer just two days ago and talked through his tough 2022 season and why he has high expectations for himself and the team in 2023.
“I was probably trying to do too much. Whenever I get more movement, it’s because I’m trying too hard. That is the best way I can put it. Those swing decisions are big for me. I’ve always been an aggressive hitter, so the more times that I’m swinging at pitches in the zone, the more chance I have to do damage.
“I feel good. I was able to step away from the craziness and go back to my comfort place and go back to work. Now I want a World Series ring. Have a good time with these guys and win two more games than we did last year. That’s it.”
Special hitters never do too much. Look at Bryce Harper’s swing. Look at JT Realmuto’s swing. Look at Schwarber’s swing…simple and to the point. Castellanos was a simple hitter in 2021 and completely flipped from that in his debut season with the Phillies, and it took a toll on his game.
Kevin Long has studied a ton of film from Nick Castellanos in 2021 and 2022 and knows that Castellanos is almost a guarantee to get back to the once-MVP player that he was just two short years ago.
“Guys think they’re helping their swing, and it ended up backfiring. He doesn’t need to overcomplicate.”
Long has a lot of fascinating projects for this upcoming season. He gets to work with young guys like Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Scott Kingery, and Brandon Marsh. But Long’s biggest focus is Nick Castellanos. With a power-hitting Castellanos in the Phillies lineup, the team has the potential to be one of the best offenses we’ve seen in a long, long time.
Nick Castellanos: “And there’s a deep drive…Phillies ’23”
