Nick Castellanos hits his first homer and son Liam gets a valuable bat-boy lesson

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A few days ago, Nick Castellanos approached his manager, Rob Thomson, with an idea. The right fielder wanted to see if his 10-year-old son, Liam, could be a bat boy for a few spring training games.

Thomson signed off on it, and so did Liam, who has been perched in the stairwell of the Phillies’ home dugout for the past two days.

“It’s cool to see, man,” said Castellanos. “He has taken it serious and learning what his jobs are with the other kids. It’s cool, he has responsibilities and a job to do. It’s fun watching him do it.”

There is still a learning curve. On Saturday afternoon, Castellanos hit his first home run of the spring, a towering 408-foot solo shot to left-center field in the second inning. Liam jumped up and down in celebration, and was so excited that he forgot to do his job.

When Castellanos crossed home plate, he looked down, and saw that his bat was still there. He pointed to his son and then pointed down at the bat.

Liam, who lives with his mother in Florida, got the message.

“As a dad, I’ve got to hold him accountable,” Castellanos said.

“It’s awesome,” he added. “This isn’t just a job for me, but this is my dream, and to be able to spend days like this here with Liam, and him being able to have these memories, make these relationships. I think I say the same answer every time I’m asked. … It’s awesome.”

Taijuan Walker, who has been sidelined with right knee soreness, threw off flat ground in the outfield on Saturday morning and felt good, he said. The right-handed starter has yet to pitch in a spring game. He took a few days off for personal reasons last week, threw batting practice on Thursday, and came in on Friday with “normal spring training soreness” in his right knee.

Walker said he will play catch again on Sunday from a longer distance. He take it day by day, with the goal of pitching off a mound in the next few days.

“It’s just some soreness,” he said. “I wasn’t able to get into my lower half and I didn’t want to push it and create bad habits and have another problem. So, a couple days of lowering the intensity. Threw today a little bit and felt good. I wasn’t trying to get into it, but just moving a little bit more.”

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Walker has been checked out by the Phillies’ medical staff but has not undergone any imaging. He says he isn’t concerned about being ready by the start of the season.

“I’ve already done two live batting practices, so I’m built up,” Walker said. “My stuff and the movement is there. Just working out the kinks.”

“We don’t want to rush it,” he added. “Today was good, so we’ll throw tomorrow and see how it feels.”

Right-handed prospect Mick Abel was supposed to make the start on Saturday but was scratched because he was ill. There has been an illness going around the spring training complex, and because of that, other players might get scratched. Thomson said he is unable to announce the Phillies’ pitching plans yet, because of the illness.

“I can’t announce anything on anybody right now because I don’t know,” he said. “It’s popping up all over the place.”

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Zack Wheeler was back in camp on Saturday, after taking a few days off to be with his family following the birth of his third child.

“Don’t really have a plan,” Thomson said of the star pitcher’s work over the next few days. “I think he’s going to do a touch-and-feel tomorrow and then we’ll map it out and see how he feels.”

Right-hander Dylan Covey was checked out by trainers during his outing Friday and was evaluated further Saturday morning. The Phillies found some tightness in his pitching shoulder, so they are going to “back him down” for a while, according to Thomson.