Is Philadelphia Phillies Slumping Slugger Turning Things Around?

For the Philadelphia Phillies to achieve their ultimate goal, they need their high-priced slugger to find himself at the plate.

May 28, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos (8) hits a single during the fourth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. | Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies have had a better start to the year than anyone in baseball.

With the best record in the MLB, they have given themselves the luxury of having one of their star players like Trea Turner pick up an injury, having a couple of their starting pitchers and relievers work through certain struggles, and for one of their star sluggers to go through an extended slump.

It's been a different start to this campaign for Nick Castellanos compared to last year when he was the Phillies' best hitter and earned himself an All-Star selection.

Barring one of the hottest stretches of his career, he won't be appearing in that game this season.

The slugger is currently slashing .208/.271/.333 with seven homers, 12 extra-base hits, and 24 RBI through 57 contests.

That's a far cry from .301/.344/.496 with 13 blasts, 40 extra-base hits, and 55 RBI through 87 games prior to the All-Star break in 2023.

Philadelphia needs Castellanos to be the slugger that he has shown to be throughout his entire career. That's why they handed him a $100 million contract as a free agent in 2022.

It's certainly been rough for the veteran thus far, but he might be getting ready to have a breakout soon.

In the finale against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, he hit a ball that just went over the fence after the outfielder had it in his glove and couldn't squeeze it. What normally has transpired for Castellanos so far this year is that ball would have been caught.

Instead, he finished the game with his OPS at .604, the highest it's been since the second day of the season when the Phillies were taking on the Atlanta Braves.

That number isn't what they're looking for, but it's a step in the right direction.

Taking into account some more advanced statistics as reported by Matt Gelb of The Athletic, Wednesday was also the first time he's had what is considered to be four "hard hit balls" in a game at the velocity he just had since June 2, 2023.

Considering some of the moments he put together in the back stretch of last season, it's hard not to be encouraged by that.

Hopefully this is something that gives Castellanos confidence and he returns to being a feared hitter like he has been throughout his career.