WATCH: Kyle Schwarber answers whether Nick Castellanos was a distraction in 2025

Drew Smith
February 13, 2026
Phillies
0 Comments

Clearwater is officially open for business, which means the Phillies are back on the field, the beat writers are back in midseason form, and every microphone within a five mile radius is now legally required to ask about Nick Castellanos.

Phillies cut Nick Castellanos loose and turn a messy divorce into a full-blown civil war

First up to the podium was Kyle Schwarber, fresh off the extension, freshly reinstalled as clubhouse voice of reason, and immediately thrown a grenade.

Do you think the situation with Nick Castellanos last year was a distraction?

Kyle Schwarber’s answer was a masterclass in saying a lot while also saying absolutely nothing.

He talked about the Dodgers series, about execution, about how they played good games, about how they put themselves in position and still got knocked out. Then he landed on the phrase that is going to fuel sports talk radio for the next month.

Kyle Schwarber on Nick Castellanos (kind of)

Kyle Schwarber was asked whether Nick Castellanos was a distraction in 2025.

(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/NBq1LzTt1t
— OnPattison (@OnPattison) February 13, 2026

Kyle Schwarber: “Can’t really say.”

Now, because he did not explicitly say “no,” people are going to do what people always do. They are going to read between the lines, create body language degrees, zoom in on eye movement like it’s the Zapruder film, and arrive at the conclusion that Schwarber secretly despised Nick Castellanos and has been waiting his entire life to be free.

Which is insane.

If Castellanos was truly some clubhouse supervillain, the Phillies would not have won the division, would not have posted their best record since 2011, and would not have been playing meaningful baseball into October. The on-field results simply do not match the crime scene some people are trying to build.

They lost to the eventual champions. That happens. It sucks, but it happens.

What killed me watching it was the delivery. Schwarber looked like a guy who just opened his front door and found a raccoon holding a subpoena. Total surprise. Brain scrambling in real time. Searching for the safest possible exit ramp.

And you know what? Elite redirect.

Kyle Schwarber did not criticize Nick Castellanos. He did not defend him either. He did not even really mention Casty at all. Instead, he pivoted to execution and results and the fact that they did not win, which is the most boring and correct answer available to any athlete in any sport.

Is that what the newly paid leader of the clubhouse is supposed to do? Maybe you want something firmer. Maybe you want a hard no.

When you are dealing with a media environment that has been foaming at the mouth for a quote they can turn into gasoline, I cannot blame him one bit for grabbing the parachute.

You want honesty? Fine. Here it is. Kyle Schwarber survived the question. Might be the hardest play he makes all Spring Training.