One Surprising and Subtle Change Has Completley Changed This Phillies Star's Season

A small change has turned the entire season around for Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos.

Jun 18, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos (8) hits a game winning walk off RBI double during the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park. / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Over the last month, the Philadelphia Phillies have seen one of their key players skyrocket from a production standpoint. That key is player is veteran outfielder Nick Castellanos.

To open the season, Castellanos was awful. He couldn't find ways to find success at the plate.

Amid the struggles, the team continued to work with him and figured out a small change that could help his issues. It has not only corrected the problem, but it has made him turn into one of the biggest reasons that the Phillies are winning at such a high level.

Prior to May 24th, as shared by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Castellanos was batting just .206/.278/.312. Since, he has hit .245/.267/.480.

A big question that most readers are wanting answered is, what changed to make that kind of a jump in production happen?

Philadelphia hitting coaches brought one small detail to the table. Castellanos was struggling with his position at the plate. They made a small tweak and everything changed for him.

Even though Castellanos is not a player that changes things most of the time based on technical help, being able to see the videos that the coaches shared with him made him make the change.

“For me, the earlier I can start, and the more I can flow with the pitcher, the more my direction goes back to the middle. Sometimes if I get stuck, my posture will break, and everything will kind of happen at once, and then my swing decisions will break down, and then I’ll get in and out of the zone pretty quickly.”

Rafael Pena, an assistant hitting coach, also spoke out about Castellanos.

“If he’s grounded, and his bat is a little flatter before he starts, that just allows him to get to the position he wants to fire from, sooner. Sometimes his bat gets a little more vertical, he’s not in the legs as much, and then it just takes time. That little millisecond that it takes for him to get into those positions, that’s what makes the pitches a little tougher on him.”

Making one small change has turned the entire season around for the 32-year-old outfielder.

Throughout the entire season as a whole, Castellanos has hit .220/.274/.369 to go along with nine home runs and 33 RBI. He still has a long way to go to recover his season completely, but he's well on his way.