Nick Castellanos homers twice, Cristian Pache adds another as Phillies top Rockies

Entering Saturday’s game against the Rockies, Nick Castellanos had not hit a home run since Aug. 27, 2022. Cristian Pache had only four in his career. The Phillies have not hit many home runs in general, but it’s safe to say few expected a home run from Pache or Castellanos anytime soon.

But this sport has a knack for delivering the unexpected. And in a 4-3 win on Saturday over the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park, it was Castellanos and Pache who gave the Phillies three badly needed long balls.

Castellanos gave them not one, but two. In the bottom of the second inning, he took a slider — a pitch against which he was batting .111 this season — and launched it 378 feet into the left-field seats for a solo homer. In the bottom of the sixth, he hit another slider for another solo homer, this one to left center. It was the 10th multi-homer game of Castellanos’ career and his first as a Phillie. Both homers gave the Phillies a lead.

He finished 3-for-4 after hitting a line-drive double in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was an encouraging sign from a player who looked lost at times last season. He saw his slugging percentage sink from .576 in 2021 to .389 in 2022, the second-lowest mark of his career. But he arrived in spring training feeling recharged. He started to simplify his approach at the plate, by staying back and letting the ball travel. The results have been immediate.

Castellanos is walking at a career-high rate (11.1%). He isn’t swinging at pitches that fooled him last season. He’s hitting more doubles (a major-league-best 10 in 84 at-bats, to be exact), and is hitting for average (now at .310), but on Saturday, the raw power began to show. Castellanos says this is not just because of his changed approach. It’s also because he is more comfortable.

“Even if you go back to all of my interviews last year, I’d always say, with me, everything is connected,” he said. “The more I feel at peace with myself, my situation, my surroundings, my environment, the more my natural self is going to be able to come through.

“For me, I learned so many lessons about myself last year that I think make me a more complete adult, not just as a baseball player. And everything that I learned last year could have been just as valuable as the 2021 season I had. Maybe not statistically, but every lesson is valuable.”

Castellanos made hard contact on both of his home runs, but it was Pache’s blast that traveled the farthest. In the bottom of the third inning, the outfielder hit a two-run home run that traveled 421 feet and landed in the bushes beyond center field. As he rounded first, he pointed his finger to the sky.

He had reason to celebrate. That home run — and the single that followed in the bottom of the fifth — was the result of hard work. Pache’s maximum exit velocity ranked in the 35th percentile in MLB in 2021, and the 45th in MLB in 2022. He has hit .165/.210/.253 in his career. When the Phillies traded for Pache in March, they did so for defense, not his bat.

But, nevertheless, they saw an upside. They also had faith in their hitting coach, Kevin Long. Like Pache, Edmundo Sosa, who was acquired at the trade deadline last year, was known as a defense-first player. But after a few weeks with Long, he became a totally different hitter. Sosa’s batting average in St. Louis was .189 in 2022. In Philadelphia, he hit .315. In 2023, he’s hitting .316.

» READ MORE: Phillies starter Ranger Suárez nears minor league assignment

Pache was always going to be more of a project for Long. The A’s, who traded Pache to the Phillies in March for minor league pitcher Billy Sullivan, said they “ran out of time” to develop his offensive game. Pache’s ground ball rate was 50% in 2020, and steadily increased, to 55% in 2021 and 58% in 2022.

Long quickly realized why. Pache was leaning forward at the plate, causing his bat path to veer down. He encouraged the outfielder to stay back, use his hips and lower body more, and keep his head still, so he could better see the pitches he faced.

The results weren’t immediate, but they showed on Saturday.

After suffering a left triceps strain that caused him to take a three-week rehab assignment in triple-A Lehigh Valley, left-hander Cristopher Sánchez made his season debut, starting Saturday’s game. He got ahead of hitters early but hit some bumps. Overall, though, Sánchez gave the Phillies what they needed. He allowed five hits, three earned runs, and two walks with five strikeouts in 4⅓ innings. The strikeouts were his second most in a major-league start. Sánchez was held to an 80-85 pitch count, so Thomson pulled him at 73.

The relief corps — Connor Brogdon, Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez, and Craig Kimbrel — did not allow a run or a walk through their 4⅔ innings. They allowed just three hits and collectively struck out six.

Kimbrel earned the save, the second of his season and the 396th of his career, with a perfect ninth inning on eight pitches. His velocity was up slightly; he topped out at 96.1 mph.

“His stuff is really good,” Thomson said of Kimbrel. “He’s really pounding the zone, and the breaking ball is just filthy. Soto was incredible. Seranthony did a great job. This was his first time going back-to-back in a bit. And he held his velocity, held the strike zone. I thought he was great, too.”