Former outfielder Nick Castellanos made his San Diego Padres debut at first base this weekend, and the results were solid to start, then spectacular. Castellanos spent three mostly uneventful innings at first against the Seattle Mariners on Friday, but the ball found him when new manager Craig Stammen asked for another inning defensively from the Padres’ newest acquisition.
Castellanos made a diving stop, which was impressive given how little time he’s spent learning his new position. Like many outfielders who make the transition to first, he expressed excitement at being closer to the action.
“Yesterday was my first game there, and I’ve only had four innings,” Castellanos said in a piece written by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “But I love how I feel like I’m engaged in every play. In between pitches, anticipating pickoffs, having to cover bases, getting to interact with the baserunners. Honestly, I think for me, [who] probably has a little bit of ADD, it helps me stay focused.
“I find it fun. Again, I only have four innings. But I love all the work there.”
The Padres have to love it, too, at least so far. They have an opening at first base, and while Gavin Sheets is projected to be the starting first baseman, having Castellanos rise up and claim a spot would add power to the lineup and give Stammen more positional choices.
Castellanos is working with Padres infield instructors Ryan Goins and Nick Punto, and he’s getting plenty of reps at first. The play he made on Friday was part of “getting my relationship with the bag started,” as Castellanos described it.
“Nick has really taken to it,” said Stammen. “And we saw some of the hard work that he’s been putting in pay off with those two plays.”
The first play was more routine. It was a ground ball to Castellanos’ right, and he ranged over and flipped it to reliever Wandy Peralta, who was covering first. It’s a tricky play that can befuddle even veteran first basemen occasionally, but Castellanos said he grew up playing shortstop, so “my relationship with a ground ball is not starting from scratch.”
The Padres are hoping his relationships with his new manager and teammates go a lot more smoothly. It was Castellanos’ relationship with Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson that torpedoed his time in Philly last season, to the point where the Phillies were willing to pay him $20 million to go play for another team.
The time to judge all this is when the games start for real. Spring training is an easygoing time for veteran players like Castellanos, but when the grind starts and issues start to happen—-they do for every player, after all--that will be the time to take the temperature on Castellanos’ relationships with the bag, the ground balls and his manager and new teammates.