Nick Castellanos vs Rob Thomson. Round 2. That’s what we witnessed when the Philadelphia Phillies brushed past the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the series. This was more of an even match, after the Phillies seemingly won Game 1 at the canter, blowing away the Braves with a scoreline of 19-4. But in this game, the tensions were high and the margins were thin, and it eventually boiled over in the Phillies’ dugout.

The pivotal moment took place on the diamond when Nick Castellanos made a brilliant play in right field and threw out Braves’ Matt Olson at home plate.  The score was 1-1 at the time, and the Phillies took the lead at the bottom of the 8th when Alec Bohm hit a sacrifice fly to the right and won the second match of the series 2-1.

But the controversial moment came later in the game, when manager Rob Thomson hooked Castellanos for Harrison Bader in the ninth inning to bring some defensive stability and calm in this nail-biting encounter. Thomson explained his reasons in the post-game interview, saying, “He makes near the last out in the eighth inning. So we put Bader in because he’s the best defender we’ve got.”

When Reporter Tim Kelly asked Castellanos if it was frustrating to be pulled after such a great defensive play, he responded, “Yes”. And when asked how much of an adjustment was needed to cope with these decisions, Castellanos said, “It’s a big adjustment”. And how does he deal with it? “The best I[Castellanos] can”. These short and honest answers clearly show that the Castellanos, who’s in his fourth year of a five-year $100 million deal, is clearly unhappy with his current situation in Philadelphia.

This was the second time Castellanos was benched during the game this season. The first one was on June 16 in the eighth inning of a two-run game against Miami. Castellanos made some “inappropriate” comments to Thomson after he was hooked in favor of Johan Rojasin in that game. That incident ended his 236-game starting streak when he was benched in the next game as a consequence of the fallout. Castellanos later admitted, “I wasn’t happy about it. I spoke my mind. [Thomson] said that I crossed a line, so my punishment is that I’m not playing.”

The Phillies fans are clearly unhappy with this saga, and they let their thoughts be known on social media.

The Phillies fans aren’t happy with the Castellanos vs Thomson saga

One fan straight-up addressed the elephant in the room. “This isn’t gonna end well”. This sentence perfectly captures the fear of the entire Phillies fanbase, as this drama cannot continue like this, and something will eventually have to give. The only hope is that it happens before it’s too long.

Another fan was very blunt with his criticism of Castellanos. Not holding anything back, the fan wrote, “I’ve seen more than enough to want him off this roster. Hasn’t hit s— in two months. Yes. His defense has improved, but he’s still like the 7th best outfielder on this roster. It’s beyond time to let this man play somewhere else.” 

Castellanos has gone 22-for-116 in his last 30 games with a batting average of .198. But yes, his defense improved a bit in his last few games. As Castellanos made the second out in the bottom of the eighth in the same manner against Washington last Saturday, when the team was leading 6-4. But still with -12 Outs Above Average (OAA) this season, he is still ranked last among 113 qualified outfielders in the game.

A couple of more fans were blunt with their criticism of the Philly star. One commented, “Just get him outta here already, he’s a cancer,”  while another chimed in on a similar tangent, “yeah he’s outta philly.” And last but not least, one fan wrote, “Trade him to Baltimore for Rutschman”.

So, the fans have given their verdict on this saga. It remains to be seen if Castellanos and Thomson can patch up their differences. If that isn’t the case, it won’t be too much of a stretch to imagine that Castellanos will most likely be traded. What do you think of this whole saga? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.