Phillies’ Nick Castellanos ends homer drought at right time to split series with Braves

ATLANTA — Nick Castellanos raised his right arm as he rounded first base. After touching second, he clapped his hands together. By the time he got to third, his teammates were waving towels and hanging over the dugout railing.

At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, it may have been the biggest home run hit by a Phillies player so far this season.

Not only did Castellanos give the Phillies a two-run lead in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves, but he broke a spell of 113 plate appearances without a home run. It was his longest drought since 2015, and by all accounts, it has weighed on him with the force of a $100 million contract.

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So, yeah, it was clutch, calming, and 100% cathartic, all rolled into one mighty right-handed swing on a slider from Braves reliever Collin McHugh.

”Nick’s a really good hitter. He’s just struggled a little bit,” said Zack Wheeler, who delivered seven sparkling innings in the sweltering Georgia heat to give the Phillies a split of the two-game series after a 13-1 trouncing Tuesday night. “It’s nice to see him get that home run right there in a big spot for us.”

All along, Phillies officials have said their biggest trade deadline additions would come from within. They were referring to Jean Segura, who is due to return this week from a broken right index finger, and Bryce Harper, who may return later in the month from a fractured left thumb.

But make no mistake, they also were talking about Castellanos.

Entering play Wednesday, Castellanos had homered only once since May 30 and not at all since June 30. It wasn’t only that. He ranked 123rd among 154 players who are qualified for the batting title in slugging percentage. In 159 plate appearances since June 17, he had a total of six extra-base hits (five doubles, one homer).

And he was pressing. Man, oh, man was he pressing.

Castellanos got booed loudly at Citizens Bank Park during the Phillies’ most recent homestand. He heard it, too. Loudly and clearly. Matt Martin, his personal hitting coach, said last week that Castellanos is “so disappointed in himself that he’s letting Dave Dombrowski down, the owner down, his teammates down, the fans down.”

» READ MORE: Phillies’ Nick Castellanos ‘just hasn’t been right, and he’s made it worse,’ says personal hitting coach

“I think it’s just gradually been me trying to do less and less, and being happy with a base hit to right field,” said Castellanos, whose homer was his ninth of the season after hitting 34 last year with Cincinnati. “I think that’s a good starting point for me. Just gradually letting go [of] expectations and then getting back to letting the game come to you, really.”

Maybe, then, a 420-footer to straightaway center to win a game against the reigning World Series champs — made possible by J.T. Realmuto’s hustle to stay out of a double play and allow the tying run to score — will unburden Castellanos’ mind.

“Everybody’s pulling for him,” interim manager Rob Thomson said. “They know what he’s going through, and they know that he wants to do well. He cares. So, they care about him. It was really neat.”

The Phillies were active before Tuesday’s trade deadline, picking up a defensive center fielder (Brandon Marsh), a late-inning reliever (David Robertson), and a middle-of-the-rotation starter (Noah Syndergaard). Robertson notched his first Phillies save against the Braves. Syndergaard is scheduled to start Thursday night at home.

Castellanos was paying attention to the trade rumors, not because he feared he’d be on the move after signing a big contract but with hope that Dombrowski, the team’s president of baseball operations, would add to the roster.

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“It sends the message that winning is the expectation here,” Castellanos said. “That’s just more wind at your sails. I’ve been a part of a deadline where people are leaving the locker room instead of getting added. It feels good when you have established faces coming in.

“With the addition of the guys that we got, plus the guys coming off the injured list, I think that we probably had the best trade deadline as far as additions that we could ask for. We still haven’t clicked on all cylinders yet. We’re in contention. We’re a playoff team. Should be interesting.”

Even more if Castellanos turns on the power.

At first, after being ruled out on what would’ve been a rally-ending, 5-4-3 double play in the eighth inning, Realmuto wasn’t sure the Phillies would get the call overturned.

“I kind of stumbled out of the box a little bit, so I was actually worried I wasn’t going to get there,” he said. “My first step I didn’t feel great about, so I just tried to run as fast as I could.”

Good thing. Realmuto beat the throw by about a half-step. The Phillies won the replay challenge, allowing the tying run to score and getting Castellanos to the plate.

“That’s an example of all the little things are just as important as the big things,” Castellanos said. “Everything matters.”

Wheeler dominated his hometown team, as usual, holding the Braves to five hits in seven walk-free innings. The only blemish came on Orlando Arcia’s fifth-inning homer.

“He was great,” Thomson said. “Made probably one bad pitch, and that was it. On a hot day, he was efficient, threw strikes. He was great.”

Also typical. Wheeler grew up near Atlanta and has a 2.04 ERA in 10 starts against the Braves since joining the Phillies in 2020.