Nick Castellanos Discusses His Relationship With Phillies Manager Rob Thomson

The Philadelphia Phillies star slugger discusses the aftermath of his benching.

Jun 15, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos (8) celebrates his grand slam home run in the dugout during the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The beginning of the week wasn't without drama for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Despite turning their performance around on the field to the tune of a five-game winning streak following their victory on Monday, it was revealed a day later that manager Rob Thomson had benched Nick Castellanos for Tuesday's game after the star outfielder made an "inappropriate comment" following getting pulled from Monday's contest.

It was a defensive substitution in a close game, something that happens all the time in baseball when a skipper wants to put their best defenders on the field.

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Castellanos took exception to it and voiced his opinion, and then Thomson responded with the one-game benching.

For a clubhouse that is rumored to be extremely tight, there was concern from the outside that this incident could cause a rift and halt the momentum that had seemingly been built.

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However, Castellanos put those concerns to bed with his recent comments.

"We're two grown men that show up for work every day with the common goal of winning a World Series," he said, per Lochlahn March of The Philadelphia Inquirer. "If everybody just agrees on everything and doesn't speak their mind, there's not going to be passion there. Emotions drive people, especially passionate people."

Thomson said immediately after the incident that he loves Castellanos' passion, but the skipper clearly felt that the comments that were made crossed the line to the point where some punishment had to be handed out.

Castellanos was back in the lineup on Wednesday and made a game-saving catch in the ninth inning, something that was ironic after he was pulled for defensive reasons.

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The star slugger also expounded upon why there was some disagreement between himself and Thomson.

"So to think that there's going to be eight months of consistently being together and not butting heads at all, that probably doesn'’t happen," he stated.

It seems like it's now water under the bridge between these two.

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