USATSI_18825298 — © Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

Phillies' Nick Castellanos Must Continue the Search for His Missing Power

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos has seemingly lost his power stroke this season, but he might finally be starting to turn things around.

Author:
Leo Morgenstern
Aug 8, 2022 1:00 PM EDT

In this story:

Philadelphia Phillies

Nick Castellanos hit a pretty big home run on Friday night. In the first inning, he crushed a fastball from pitcher Josiah Gray into the left field seats. The ball left the bat at 108.6 MPH.

It would turn out to be the game-winning run, as the Philadelphia Phillies went on to beat the Washington Nationals 7-2.

That home run was an especially big one for Castellanos, since it marked his second long ball in the past three days. Before that, he had hit just one home run in the past two months.

Indeed, power has eluded Castellanos all season. At this point last year, 107 games into his season, the righty had slugged 24 home runs and 57 extra base hits. In 2022, he has just 10 home runs and 32 XBH. Something is wrong.

Castellanos has made a career for himself as a power hitter. From 2016 to 2021, he posted a .515 slugging percentage and .229 isolated power. He was hitting a home run every 23 plate appearances.

This season, however, he is slugging well below .400. His isolated power is less than half of what it was last season. Both are career lows. He is averaging one home run every 45 PA. Those are not the numbers of a Silver Slugger-winning power hitter.

To make matters worse, this problem has plagued Castellanos in nearly all situations. His power numbers are down against both lefties and righties. They are down at home and on the road. They are down in low leverage moments and high leverage moments.

Castellanos is hitting for less power against all pitch types too. While sliders and curveballs have been his kryptonite, he has also failed to crush fastballs like he did in years past.

No matter how you slice it, his power stroke has disappeared.

Nick Castellanos rounds the bases after hitting his first home run in more than a month.
© Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Castellanos ranks second on the Phillies in hits and top 20 in the National League. Fewer than 30 other NL players have recorded at least 100 hits. If he plays every remaining game, he is on pace to set a new career high in singles.

In other words, putting the bat on the ball really has not been the issue. The true problem is that Castellanos is just not hitting the ball as hard or as far as he once did.

Per Statcast, his hard hit rate is the lowest it's been since 2015. It ranks in the bottom quarter of the league. As a result, his expected slugging percentage is also shockingly low. For the first time in the past seven years, Castellanos does not rank in the top ten percent of the league in this metric. Currently, he doesn't even rank in the top fifty percent.

His barrel rate lower than it has ever been. His average exit velocity is too. Both ranks in the bottom half of the league. By nearly every metric that measures quality of contact, Castellanos is struggling.

So Castellanos is missing his power. That much is clear. Whether or not he can find it again? That's the million dollar question.

The big right-hander is hitting well so far in August, and that could be the start of something more. He has hit two home runs with a .611 SLG and .333 ISO this month. His hard hit rate is going up. There is reason for hope, but he will need to keep it up for longer than a few games to prove he has truly recovered his power stroke.

All that can be said right now is Castellanos has begun the search for his missing power. It will be a long journey, but hopefully for the Phillies, his quest succeeds.