The Philadelphia Phillies are moving on to the next round of postseason baseball, and Nick Castellanos is a big reason why.
Castellanos, with a .694 OPS, was a liability last year.
However, he was much better in the 2023 regular season, with 29 home runs, 106 RBI, and a .788 OPS.
That’s a very good performance.
He has taken it up a notch in October, though.
After posting a .750 OPS and a couple of doubles in the series against the Miami Marlins, he became a monster in the Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, just when his team needed him the most.
After the famous “atta boy” game in which Atlanta leveled the matchup, Castellanos came up huge with two home runs in Game 3 and two more in Game 4.
One of them traveled at more than 112 mph, his hardest batted-ball in the Statcast era.
Scorching hot off the bat from Nick Castellanos! 💪
(MLBStats x @GoogleCloud) pic.twitter.com/CLq4bY78l6
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 13, 2023
We knew Castellanos had enormous power, but to see him hitting a 100-mph fastball from Spencer Strider the way he did was nothing short of amazing.
The Phillies are a much, much more dangerous team when Castellanos is in a groove.
He is capable of hitting doubles and home runs almost at will when this happens, and this year, he seems to be getting hot at the right time.
The Phils will need him to overcome the obstacle that the Diamondbacks represent.
Arizona hasn’t won the Fall Classic since 2001, while the Phillies haven’t lifted the trophy since 2008.
One of them will get a chance to break that drought, while the other will go home knowing that they gave their all.
