How the Philadelphia Phillies Will Survive Without Castellanos

The Philadelphia Phillies will have to go at least six more games without Nick Castellanos, as the right fielder nurses a sore oblique.

Author:
Leo Morgenstern
Sep 5, 2022 4:30 PM EDT

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Philadelphia Phillies

After a slow start to the year, Nick Castellanos finally started producing in August. Since Aug. 1, he is hitting .294 with five home runs and an .817 OPS.

It’s hard to say whether he truly fixed the problems that plagued him in the first half of the season or if he simply got hot for a few weeks, but either way, he was helping the Philadelphia Phillies score runs and win ballgames.

Thus, when he hit the injured list with an oblique strain, it truly could not have come at a worse time, both for the team and for Castellanos himself. The Phillies were already dealing with a depleted pitching staff, and they were counting on the offense to pick up the slack. The right-handed slugger will have to hope he can pick up right where he left off upon his return.

Philadelphia does not have an ideal replacement for Castellanos. In his place, they will rely on a combination of Matt Vierling, Nick Maton, and the newly called-up Dalton Guthrie to cover right field. Each has his strengths, but all come with caveats.

Vierling has the most outfield experience of the trio, and he has hit quite well over the past two weeks. Unfortunately, he is really only an option against southpaws. He is a career .302 hitter against lefties and a .213 hitter against righties.

The left-handed Maton is a better option against right-handed pitching, but he is not a true outfielder. He is young and athletic enough to hold a glove out there, but the Phillies can't expect much more from him than that.

Finally, there is Guthrie. The versatile defender is having a breakout season with Lehigh Valley, hitting .302 with an .839 OPS in 92 games. He earned his way to the big leagues with his impressive performance at Triple-A, but it's hard to know what to expect from him against MLB pitching.

Guthrie deserves a chance to succeed, and if he does, Philadelphia won’t need to worry about Maton in the outfield. However, it’s impossible to know what to expect from the 26-year-old rookie in his first opportunity facing big league pitching.

He should get his first chance to prove himself in the upcoming series against Miami. Vierling is likely to play the first two games (the Marlins are starting southpaws in both contests), but there is a good chance Guthrie will start on Thursday against Sandy Alcantara. It won’t be an easy way to start his MLB career, but if he holds his own opposite one of the best pitchers in baseball, it will bode well for his future in Philadelphia.

If Castellanos is really only out for six more games, this trio should get the job done. Vierling can handle the starts against lefties, Guthrie is more than deserving of a big league cup of coffee, and Maton can fill in the gaps.

If Castellanos is out for longer, however, Rob Thomson will have to get creative. Guthrie could be a solid replacement, but he could also fall flat on his face against MLB-caliber pitching. Neither Vierling nor Maton has proven himself capable of being a regular big league outfielder.

One outside the box option would be to give Garrett Stubbs some playing time in right field. Stubbs played a handful of games in the outfield during his time with the Houston Astros, but Thomson has, so far, been reluctant to use his backup catcher at any other position.

Now that rosters have expanded and Thomson has three backstops at his disposal, might he be more willing to put his second-string catcher in the outfield?

Stubbs is very athletic—he moves well with a strong arm—and he had more outfield experience than Maton heading into the season. He's also been swinging a hot bat this whole year, and he's coming off a particularly strong August.

The 29-year-old catcher would not be a perfect solution in the outfield—he is, primarily, a catcher after all—but he would give his manager one more option to fill that hole. With no clear substitute for Castellanos, at least the Phillies would have some depth.

Thomson could shuffle between Vierling, Maton, Guthrie, and Stubbs depending on the pitching matchup, and he could make frequent use of Vierling and Guthrie as late-inning defensive replacements.

With the way he’s been swinging the bat lately, Castellanos will be hard to replace. Vierling, Maton, Guthrie, and perhaps Stubbs will do their best to fill in until the slugger returns.