The San Diego Padres picked up Castellanos to play a different role, and yesterday the signing paid dividends.
Nick Castellanos has been an every day player for a dozen years in the big leagues, but he’s had to take on a new role with the San Diego Padres. Castellanos has mostly been a bench bat so far in San Diego, and he’s also played some at first base and in the outfield, with the latter being his natural position.
The stats say it’s been a struggle, but yesterday the numbers didn’t mean a thing. Castellanos played hero with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the Padres down 2-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals, and his two-run homer kept San Diego alive and set the stage for a dramatic 3-2 win in ten innings.
“In big moments, the more you think, the faster that moment’s going to pass you by,” Castellanos said afterward in an article written by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “You just take a breath. And stay in there.”
The numbers are also part of the story, though, and they haven’t been pretty. Castellanos finished April hitting .164 with a .493 OPS, and there’s been speculation that his roster spot was in jeopardy given how little the Padres are paying him after Castellanos’ meltdown last season with the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I’m just getting used to it,” Castellanos said. “And I’m more familiar now than I was in the beginning.”
The Padres have been patient with Castellanos, but part of that is because they don’t have a choice. San Diego doesn’t have a lot of power hitters, and on paper Castellanos still has the potential for a 20+ home run season as a starter.
But Castellanos’ defensive metrics are terrible. He’s already cost the Padres a game with an ill-advised for a ball that turned into a triple, and one thing the Padres do have is depth that will almost certainly keep Castellanos on the bench.
“We have a deep roster,” said manager Craig Stammen. “One through 13 on the position player side, we feel really good about that.”
The idea is to spot Castellanos in situations that play to his strengths, and yesterday that formula worked to perfection. It’s been a big adjustment, and the Padres would love to see Castellanos produce more results like yesterday’s.
“We’re putting him in specific roles to help us win games,” said Stammen. “I think that’s when he started embracing it a little bit too. Credit goes to him.”
The biggest issue, Castellanos added, is trying to get a rhythm, which is tough to do for even the best bench players.
“Being able to do this -- and know that there’s guys that have made careers doing this -- I have a lot of respect for those individuals,” Castellanos said. “It’s not easy.”