Philadelphia Phillies Slugger Feeling Like He's Getting Back to Normal

With one of the Philadelphia Phillies most prominent sluggers starting to heat up at the plate, that is a bad sign for the rest of the league.

May 5, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos (8) / Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies currently hold the best record in baseball.

After a slow start offensively, they have turned things around and are, once again, one of the most prolific teams at the plate across the league. While that certainly garners attention, the most impressive part of this team is their starting pitching rotation who continues to dominate.

But, while the Phillies are enjoying their hot streak, there still seems to be one thing missing.

That would be the production of 2023 All-Star Nick Castellanos, who has struggled early this season and has faced much critiscm because of it.

On April 29, he went 0-4 in their second game against the Los Angeles Angels. That put his slash line at .173/.242/.218 with just one homer, two extra-base hits, and eight RBI.

For someone who carried Philadelphia at the plate early last year, he looked like a shell of himself.

But, Castellanos has quietly started to figure things out at the plate. In his last nine games he has completely flipped a switch going 11-35 with three doubles, two home runs, and five RBI.

He says it has to do with his changed approach at the plate.

"I just feel like my swings are more loose -- free. I'm not worried so much about chasing or being so hard on myself with trying to have a plan and whatnot. Just go up there with no thoughts and just swing. See ball, hit ball," he told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com after Friday's game where he blasted a 400-foot homer in the second inning to open up the team's scoring.

Change in approaches at the plate was a major topic of conversation this offseason after the offense went ice cold in the most important stretch of the NLCS as they lost two games at home. There was conversation about being more selective and not chasing balls out of the zone.

That clearly impacted Castellanos in a negative way.

"My whole career, I've never had a plan, I've never looked for a pitch ... I think that I just really tried to be something that I wasn't at the beginning of the season, and [hurt] myself a little bit. But I'm getting out of it," he said.

The Phillies likely knew what type of hitter they signed up for when they handed the slugger a five-year, $100 million contract.

His inconsistincies are what makes him consistent in a weird way.

Castellanos can flip the switch and become one of the best hitters in the game. That was evident when he single-handedly overpowered the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS matchup last season.

To win a World Series they're going to need him to be that type of hitter.