Phillies fans got under Nick Castellanos’ skin to the extent that he couldn’t help but yell and gesture at them following a loss on Friday night.
After second baseman Bryson Stott concluded the 9-6 defeat against the Reds at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Castellanos stayed near the dugout and began shouting at the crowd.
The exact words he used remain unclear from the video, but according to a post from Phillies senior video producer Jace Kaleikau on X, Castellanos reacted to a drunken fan who had been heckling Stott as Castellanos defended his teammate.
“I was right there, drunk fans were coming down all the way by the dugout and yelling at Stott,” Kaleikau recounted in one of his posts.
“If no one had reacted to that, I would’ve been surprised. The fans definitely crossed a lot of lines when they were just a few feet away.”
Kaleikau also mentioned that, “If there was a moment when fans overstepped and provoked a response from a player, this was definitely it.”
As for the Phillies, they held a slim half-game lead in the NL East going into Saturday. Unfortunately, they had just lost eight out of their last 12 games, stranding 11 runners in bases during the initial match of their three-game series against the Reds.
Castellanos did hit his 11th home run of the season, giving the Phillies an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. However, that lead evaporated quickly when Cincinnati scored five runs in the third, resulting in Philadelphia pitcher Jesus Luzardo being removed from the game.
Currently, Castellanos has a batting average of .278, with a .771 on-base plus slugging. His impressive streak of 236 consecutive games came to an end last month following an “inappropriate comment” he made to manager Rob Thomson.
“One of the things I love about Nick is his passion,” Thomson explained before a June 17 game in Philadelphia. “He has a deep love for the game and for playing every inning. I felt his comment after he was pulled from the game was inappropriate.”
On Saturday, the Phillies will have Ranger Suarez take the mound against Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo.
