Nick Castellanos is back in Philadelphia, and he isn’t being shy about how things ended with his former team.
The longtime Phillies outfielder and current Padre spoke out about his ugly breakup with the franchise last offseason on Tuesday before the series opener at Citizens Bank Park.
“My phone was on,” Castellanos said Tuesday. “All they needed was a conversation like, ‘This is going to be your role.’ Apparently, they thought it was just best for the organization that my personality wasn’t in the clubhouse.”
Castellanos was released by the Phillies in February with one season left on the five-year, $100 million contract he signed with the team before the 2022 season.
The 33-year-old hit 82 home runs across four seasons and made the 2023 NL All-Star team, but the end of his tenure in the City of Brotherly Love wasn’t pretty.
Castellanos butted-heads with then-manager Rob Thomson, having once brought a beer into the dugout after being removed from a game for a defensive replacement and reportedly yelled at the skipper in front of coaches and teammates.
“Not everything that anybody does is all positive,” Castellanos said. “It’s not all negative. I had highs, I had lows.”
His production didn’t do him any favors in Philadelphia either.
Castellanos, who signed a veteran’s minimum deal with San Diego after being let go by the Phillies, had a down year in 2025, hitting .250 with a .694 OPS, making him expendable for the franchise. He came into Tuesday’s game hitting .191 with a .560 OPS
Despite the unceremonious exit, the always-outspoken veteran had good things to say about his time with the Phillies.
“I had four good years here,” he said. “Any time I run into anybody that’s a Phillies fan, away from cameras, away from the field, I get nothing but a lot of love and positivity,” Castellanos said. “I appreciate that. I spoke my mind, I went about my business, I played every day, I never really hid on the IL. I really wanted to win a ring.
“Did I do everything 100 percent correct? Probably not. Did I act true to my heart and how I felt in the moment? 100 percent.”
