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Thoughts on the Nick Castellanos Postgame Interview and the Media’s Contemporary Role in Sports
By Sean Barnard
Published:
The Philly sports media sphere was in a spiral late Friday night following the Phillies’ 8-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Nick Castellanos entered the game as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning for Max Kepler and finished in right field. He had two hits and three RBIs across his three at-bats, hitting the 250th home run of his MLB career.
Castellanos received the postgame honor/requirement of the on-field television interview, which had a slightly different tune with Ruben Amaro Jr. and Scott Franzke on the television call:
The initial interview already raised some eyebrows with the theme of Castellanos’ limited playing time being more prevalent than his performance in the victory. But the real issues popped up in the locker room when a further extension of a similar conversation continued:
Let Nick Castellanos Continue Not Being a Problem
The actual situation surrounding Nick Castellanos is far less complicated than it’s being made out to be.
He is a two-time All-Star and former Silver Slugger winner who was handed a five-year $100 million contact to come to Philadelphia. Castellanos is accustomed to being an everyday player and played all 162 games for this Phillies team in right field just last year. History should also not forget that he was the team’s most consistent performer in last year’s postseason, in which Castellanos hit .412 at the plate with a 1.059 OPS with seven hits and a home run across the four game NLDS.
It’s also surprising to even be in the spot for where Castellanos is the odd man out in this outfield rotation. For most of the season, he was the lone consistent part of this outfield as Max Kepler underperformed, Johan Rojas continued to struggle at the plate, and Brandon Marsh failed to hit left-handed pitching. But the situation changed with the addition of Harrison Bader at the trade deadline, as well as Kepler and Marsh both finding their stride down the stretch. Bader has played himself into a lineup lock, slashing .331/.389/.517 with 50 hits across his first 43 games with the Phillies while being arguably their most reliable glove in the field.
Rob Thomson has (fairly) made the assessment that the best way to get peak production out of this Phillies team is to lean on the platoons in the corner outfield. The results pretty much speak for themselves as the team has the second most wins in baseball, is 37-22 since the All-Star break, and ha sa clear pathway to securing an opening round bye in the playoffs. This is a good baseball team and expectations are high. Castellanos’ bat has not been good enough to make up for his defensive shortcomings, which created opportunities for the rest of the outfield, and Kepler and Marsh deserve credit for making the most of this.
It’s human nature for Castellanos to be disappointed by seeing his role reduced. It also feels a bit strange to be critical of a guy for wanting to be on the field more. At his core, Castellanos wants to play every day, gives you everything he’s got, and is not shy to put his hand up and express responsibility when he does come up short. Isn’t this basically describing what Philadelphia fans hope for in an athlete?
To the topic of defense, this also has become a turbulent talking point this year. Castellanos took exception to being pulled late in the game several weeks ago. This led to him saying something to Thomson, which caused him to be benched the following game and requesting the data the Phillies look at when making these decisions moving forward. To his credit, Castellanos will make all the plays that he can get to in the outfield. It’s also true that his range is far more limited than you would hope for and his sprint speed is not nearly what you would expect in a professional athlete. For the most part, he hustles and his arm is really solid, but there is a give and take with these personnel decisions. Let’s also not ignore that he served as a DH and third baseman early in his career and has improved improved pretty notably across his time in Philadelphia.
But no level of common sense on why things are the way they are can cure the helpless feeling that has surely crossed Castellanos’ mind while watching from the sideline. For an athlete to be successful, there has to be a psychotic level of self belief and confidence. This comes in different forms for every player, but he has to think that he has the advantage in every matchup at the plate and is capable of making every single play he is asked to in the field. To the same point, it’s even more frustrating when he makes these plays and does not see a reward with it. It’s very easy for the thought process after hitting the 250th home run of his career to slip into “This is why I should be playing more,” rather than accepting that he’s doing his job.
You can focus on the slight dig at Thomson for not communicating well, but the takeaway should be how actively Castellanos tried NOT to say anything controversial in this entire interview saga. He shut down one question asking if he is disappointed not be playing every day and talked about how it would be selfish to get lost in what is ahead in the future rather than help the current group achieve their collective goal.
This is a player adjusting to a more minimal role, which he is frustrated by, and doing his best not to be problematic amid the situation. There should not be more made out of this beyond that.
Media’s Role in the Situation
Perhaps the larger takeaway is the role the media played in the interaction. It’s impossible not to watch the entire interaction not feel as if this was beating dead horse. Each member of the media scrum took slightly different approaches searching for the same quotes.
To be fair to the Phillies reporters (who are generally excellent), this is precisely their job. While Castellanos would prefer to keep to himself, the reality is this is a major story surrounding the team. The former All-Star played every single game last year and was the only consistent part of the outfield picture for most of this season. A change from that is significant. Largely due to his limited playtime, there also is less from Castellanos from a media perspective, and few instances of these TV interviews and clubhouse scrums. Based on the urgency the questions were asked, you would think it was the first time the 33-year-old had spoken publicly in quite some time.
There’s also a human part to this interaction that cannot be ignored. Personally, I appreciate the bluntness and honesty that Castellanos addresses the media with. This is not like Jalen Hurts, who will give you a poem in reply to a question about Cover 2. When you ask Castellanos something, for better or for worse, he’s going to answer it. A lot of times what an athlete does not say means a lot more than what they do say in this type of situation. This was one of those cases where the veteran did his best to dance around dangerous questions only to hear them in a different form.
There also is a bit of a disconnect between what fans want the media to be and what they actually are. There is plenty of overlap in this conversation with the baseline goal of reporters needing to write about what people are interested in. This specific interaction was met with outrage online headlined by Nick’s wife and plenty of the louder voices across Phillies social media:
The line between media and fans has become increasingly blurred in recent years. There are plenty of examples of Philadelphia sports fans who have built a platform to express their opinions and gained a significant following in the process. As the community and following grows, the voice of the talesman gets louder across this same sports echo chamber. It has become increasingly common for these voices to grow even louder than those working for traditional media outlets, which has clouded the media landscape. This particular interaction seemed to strike a nerve within this subsection of Phillies followers.
It also should be made clear that the loudest voice in the room isn’t necessarily the correct one. The beat reporters are justified in wanting to hear Castellanos’ thoughts on the recent changes in his role, even if the interaction went a bit far. It may have come off in sour taste, but this wasn’t an interaction that came from the wrong place from any party involved.
The takeaway from this entire saga should be exactly what Castellanos was attempting to make clear throughout the interview. The Phillies have clinched a postseason appearance for the fourth consecutive season and every member of the team is bought in and playing their role. We are less than a week away until the regular season concludes and on the verge of finding out what the playoff path will be. Don’t let a guy who is trying hard not to be a distraction from these goals become exactly this.
*Kinkead: Let’s talk about the common media retort, which is “we’re doing our jobs,” paraphrased. But what is that job in a contemporary media landscape when players can talk directly to fans on social media and spend their time on peer-to-peer podcasts? They can cut out the middle man entirely, and oftentimes do, which neuters beat reporting to an extent, turning some on-location scribes into glorified question askers and blue medical tent observers. Some have found ways to rise above and others have not.
Anyway, I’ve always felt like the job of the beat reporter is to inform, to be a conduit between the fans and the organization, but that connection has waned over the last decade because of the expansion of media options that now exist. You can inform fairly well without any credentialed access at all. And furthermore, on the topic of “accountability,” a younger generation of fans doesn’t care so much about asking the hard questions and getting (non)answers out of players, coaches, and GMs. Just look at how Howard Eskin’s routine was received by older fans vs. younger fans as an example of that. 20-somethings seem to care more about what Sean described above, basically keeping the main thing the main thing and allowing the good vibes to remain good vibes as Red October looms. Older fans came from a world where guys like the great Phil Jasner would sit at Allen Iverson’s locker after a game and ask him direct questions. I don’t think one approach is right, nor do I think the other is wrong, but the general attitude towards sports media has certainly changed, leaning much more in the players’ favor now.
Sean Barnard has covered the Philadelphia 76ers and general Philly Sports for over six years in a variety of roles and for multiple outlets. Currently works as a Content Writer for DraftKings Network, Sixers/NBA Insider for Philadelphia's Fox Sports the Gambler, and co-host of Sixers & Phillies Digest on Youtube. Forever Trusting the Process.