Nick Castellanos put on a Phillies jersey for the first time during his introductory press conference Wednesday afternoon. Upon his formal arrival in Clearwater, two things are immediately clear:

  1. His presence makes the Phillies’ lineup one of the game’s most potent and balanced. 
  2. He’s going to be a good quote. A quote machine.

Describing his mentality and edge at the plate, Castellanos used the word “survival” and followed with this instant classic:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1506671324235767811?s=20&t=gPZuuBvRCZkJWWCl8mdRnw

“I don’t have a college degree, I hit baseballs.” 

If I were a betting man, I’d wager that an ambitious entrepreneur or two will have some variation of this quote on a t-shirt by April 8.

The other big takeaway is that the Phillies expect Castellanos, who hit .309 with a .939 OPS and 73 total extra-base hits a season ago, to bring more than just a big bat to Philadelphia.

In his introductory remarks, Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski almost instantly touched on intangibles:

“He’s in a position where he brings more than just the bat to the lineup, and with his determination, winning atmosphere, chemistry that he brings to the clubhouse — a championship type of individual. And so for us, it’s really been a focus and concentration on being in a position where we change — made some adjustments I guess is the best way to do it — in our clubhouse and bring some people on that have that mentality. And I know that Nick has that.”

Historically bad bullpens, roster depth, and managerial decisions have often been the talking points for what ails the Phillies, but it has long been clear this team has lacked something from a chemistry standpoint. Never was that more evident last August when the Phillies were swept away by a woeful Diamondbacks team that finished with just 52 wins. I had mentioned this several times dating back to 2019, but here’s what I wrote during that series:

“Perhaps this series provides that last piece of needed evidence to formally indict this team’s collective character. Absent their eight-game win streak earlier this month that, ironically, feels like a desert mirage, the Phillies have long appeared to be a team that lacks some intangible winning trait.

Maybe it’s a killer instinct. Maybe it’s the intrinsic motivation required to perform at an acceptable level in front 7,968 mostly disinterested baseball fans. Maybe it’s both.”

Time will tell if the additions of Kyle Schwarber and Castellanos alter such dynamics, but, at the very least, their impressive numbers and impressive introductory press conferences would suggest it’s a decent bet.