User:GhostRiver/castellanos

Nicholas Alexander Castellanos (born March 4, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, and Cincinnati Reds.

Draft and minor leagues
Castellanos was part of the Competitive Balance Round A in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft, taken 44th overall by the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Baseball America had ranked Castellanos the No. 14 prospect in the United States, but some MLB scouts were concerned about his commitment to play college baseball for the Miami Hurricanes and whether he would sign a professional contract out of high school. He signed with the Tigers that August for a $3.45 million signing bonus, which was at the time the highest bonus for any non-first round draft pick.


 * 2010 GCL Tigers
 * 2011 West Michigan Whitecaps
 * 2012 Lakeland Flying Tigers
 * 2012 Erie SeaWolves
 * 2012 Mesa Solar Sox
 * 2013 Toledo Mud Hens

Detroit Tigers (2013-2019)
Castellanos was one of three September call-ups for the 2013 Tigers, joining Danny Worth and Evan Reed when major league rosters expanded from 25 to 40 players. He made his major league debut on September 1, going hitless in two at bats and successfully executing an eighth-inning putout from left field. He made his first major league start on September 7, playing again in left field, and picked up his first hit when Emilio Bonifacio was late on his throw to Eric Hosmer. Castellanos played infrequently in the final stretch of the season, as manager Jim Leyland preferred to give more time towards experienced players like Matt Tuiasosopo.

Neither Castellanos nor Tuiasosopo were included on the Tigers' 2013 American League Division Series (ALDS) roster


 * 2013
 * 2014
 * 2015
 * 2016
 * 2017
 * 2018
 * 2019

Chicago Cubs (2019)
On July 31, 2019, 42 seconds before MLB's 4 p.m. ET trading deadline, the Tigers sent Castellanos and cash considerations to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for right-handed pitchers Alex Lange and Paul Richan.


 * 2019

Cincinnati Reds (2020-2021)
On January 27, 2020, the Cincinnati Reds signed Castellanos to a four-year, $64 million contract with an additional $20 million option for the 2024 season. He was injured during the Reds' summer training camp after being struck in the back by a fastball from Tyler Mahle and missed two scrimmages as a precaution but recovered in time for Opening Day. On July 30, Castellanos hit a grand slam against his former team, the Cubs, to help the Reds to a 12-7 victory at the Great American Ball Park. He followed that performance with two home runs in the first game of a doubleheader against his other former team, the Tigers. For these two performances, Castellanos received his first National League (NL) Player of the Week award. Castellanos had an uneven performance in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He batted .225 with 14 home runs and 34 RBI in 60 games, but half of his home runs came when he was hitting .340 in his first 14 games. Defensively, his -5 Outs Above Average were among the worst for major league outfielders. After posting a 1.251 on-base plus slugging (OBP) in his first 50 at bats, he dropped to a .644 OPS in his last 168, and this end-of-season slump led to a career-low .225/.298/.486 slash line.

Castellanos appeared for the Reds in the postseason when they faced the Atlanta Braves in the 2020 National League Wild Card Series. The Reds lost Game 1 in 13 innings, with Castellanos squandering a scoring opportunity in the sixth inning as he was thrown out trying to advance two bases on a left-field single from Joey Votto. The Braves shut out the Reds 5-0 in Game 2, eliminating Cincinnati from the postseason. Castellanos had the best offensive metrics for any Cincinnati player during the Wild Card series, going 3-for-10 at the plate with a double.

In only the second game of the 2021 season, Castellanos was ejected from the Reds' match against the St. Louis Cardinals after igniting a bench-clearing brawl. After scoring on a wild pitch from Jake Woodford in the fourth inning, Castellanos made a comment to Woodford that angered Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. Mike Moustakas followed for the Reds before both benches cleared. MLB issued Castellanos a two-game suspension for his role in the brawl, which was upheld after appeal. In his first game back from the suspension, facing the Cardinals again on April 23, Castellanos recorded his 1,000th career hit with a sixth-inning solo home run. By June 10, Castellanos was batting .355 with 12 home runs and an NL-leading 33 extra-base hits. He had also carried a 21-game hitting streak through June 6, when he went 0-for-5 at the plate. By July 4, he led the NL with a .346 batting average, 102 hits, 27 doubles, 44 extra-base hits, and 179 total bases. Castellanos received his first All-Star Game selection in 2021, where he was named to the NL team's starting lineup. On July 16, Castellanos suffered a microfracture in his wrist after he was hit by a pitch in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers. He was placed on the injured list the following week and returned on August 6. After hitting a grand slam in a 12-2 rout of the Cardinals on September 2, Castellanos's bat was inspected by umpires at the request of St. Louis manager Mike Shildt, who believed it was altered to improve his hitting. The crew chief determined that there was nothing about the bat that would have given Castellanos an advantage, but because a portion had broken off on his last at bat, it could no longer be ued in the game.

In 138 games and 531 at bats for the Reds in 2021, Castellanos batted .309 with 34 home runs and 100 RBI. He received his first career Silver Slugger Award at the end of the season, becoming the first Red to win the award since Jay Bruce in 2013. He also came in 12th in NL MVP voting, an award that went to Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies, and he was named to the All-MLB Second Team. On November 4, 2021, Castellanos opted out of the remaining two years and $34 million on his contract with the Reds. Cincinnati provided him a qualifying offer of one year at $18.4 million, which Castellanos also rejected, becoming a free agent.

Philadelphia Phillies (2022-present)
On March 22, 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Castellanos to a five-year, $100 million contract. Having already signed Kyle Schwarber to a four-year, $79 million contract during the offseason, it was the first time in franchise history that the Phillies went over the Major League Baseball Luxury Tax.

Player profile
Castellanos's habit of hitting home runs during inappropriate broadcast moments has become an Internet meme. The meme originates from the Reds-Royals game on August 19, 2020. Broadcaster Thom Brennaman was apologizing on-air for his use of a homophobic slur earlier that day on a hot mic when Castellanos hit a solo home run off of Royals pitcher Greg Holland, for which Brennaman interrupted his apology to recount. Brennaman's deadpan delivery of "I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith, as there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that'll be a home run, and so that'll make it a 4-0 ballgame", became a copypasta. On July 6, 2021, Castellanos hit another solo home run while the Royals broadcasting team were eulogizing George Gorman, a U.S. Air Force veteran and the father of a longtime Royals employee. The awkward announcement of Castellanos's home run in the middle of the on-air eulogy drew comparisons to Brennaman's interruption the year prior, particularly because Castellanos hit the ball in the same location as his previous home run.

Personal life
Castellanos's first son with his high school sweetheart and then-fiancee, Vanessa Hernandez, was born in August 2013. Castellanos and Hernandez married in January 2015 and later divorced.