Pitcher List Conversations are transcripts of interviews with professional baseball players — and sometimes, players discuss topics other than baseball. This has been lightly edited for clarity.
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Last week, my Pitcher List colleague Randy Holt wrote about Nick Castellanos.
Photos by Icon Sports Wire and Adobe Stock | Adapted by Carlos Leano
“Searching for Nicky Sticks” included an analysis of Castellanos’ struggles at the plate in addition to drawing some analogies between members of the Philadelphia Phillies roster and the albums of Taylor Swift.
Castellanos, Randy wrote, was “The Tortured Poets Department” of the Philadelphia Phillies.
At this point, I must confess that I’m not a Swiftie, so I’ll leave the Swiftian exegesis to those more knowledgeable (like Randy).
That said, the comparison came at a perfect time given that I was able to ask Castellanos a few questions when the Phillies played the Colorado Rockies on May 24-26.
Castellanos tends to be a frank interview subject. Here’s a case in point from the Phillies London Series with the Mets:
Nick Castellanos saw school kids in uniforms in London and called them "Hogwarts uniforms" pic.twitter.com/g6jgj6MSYV
— Absolutely Hammered (@ah_pod) June 7, 2024
That is to say, the plain-spoken Castellanos is not given to the “Easter eggs” that populate any Taylor Swift work, so the two are a study in contrasts.
Still, I found that some of Castellanos’ comments provided an interesting bookend to Randy’s article.
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Renee Dechert: The Phillies are off to this amazing historic start. What is it like for you and your teammates right now?
Nick Castellanos: Honestly, I think that we’re doing the best job we can to keep perspective on the big picture, which is, you know, this season, there’s still a lot left. And as much as we had this historic start, it’s not how you start. It’s how you finish. So, we’re just going about our work the right way and keeping it as simple as possible and about winning today.
RD: I know you’ve not gotten off to the kind of start that you had hoped to have. But it looks like you’re getting things rolling again. You hit a home run last night. What kinds of adjustments are you making?
Nick Castellanos Home Run:https://t.co/o27KCisfcT
— Renee Dechert (@ReneeDechert) June 7, 2024
NC: Honestly, just doing the best I can to keep a simple mindset. Take good swings at good pitches, and do other things in the game as best I can to help the team win. And then, as the old saying goes, “At the end of the year, your memories will be where you were.”
RD: So a couple of totally unrelated questions.
NC: Sure.
RD: What’s it like playing behind Aaron Nola?
NC: A lot of fun. He’s a veteran. He knows what he’s doing. He attacks the hitters. You know, rarely ever is he there pitching in his own way. So we know that he was prepared and ready, and we kind of follow his lead.
[Author’s note: Last year, I wrote an article about Colorado Rockies players who’d been moved from the infield to the outfield. Initially, I thought it was just about transferring skills, but I soon learned that the infield is a much more social experience than the outfield is, and the transition can be complex. This season, I’m continuing to explore this experience for other players.]
RD: You made a move a few years ago — you were moved from third base to the outfield. I wrote a piece last year, and it was really interesting to hear about these transitions. I wondered what your experience was going from the infield to the outfield.
NC: For me, it definitely helped me relax a little bit more.
As an amateur player, I was a shortstop, and they said, “Oh, well, if you can play short, third base is going to be easy.” For me, that wasn’t necessarily the case.
When they brought it up to me back in 2017, I was open to it.
And I think moving a little bit further away, giving me the responsibilities of an outfielder, put my mind a little bit more at ease because third base can be an anxious position.
Also from a body standpoint, I think the workload and, you know, running more in the outfield — honestly, I think has made me in better shape. So I just think it’s been better for me long-term over the course of my career.
RD: What do you do when you’re standing out there, waiting? I mean, sometimes you go innings, and nothing happens for you.
NC: Sure.
RD: How do you entertain yourself?
NC: That’s a good question [grins].
Well, the right answer is that I’m doing the best I can to be locked in for each pitch just to get the best jump possible.
A lot of times, I find myself entertaining myself, thinking about things unrelated to baseball, whether that’s my family situation or stuff back home. Things completely irrelevant to baseball, whether it be politics, finances, or real-life adult situations, can creep into my head. But I’m sure things creep into everybody’s head.
But that’s our job as a professional: to do the best you can to have your cues stay locked in.
RD: Nolan Jones told me sometimes he sings.
NC: Nice. That’s good to know. Maybe give that a shot. Actually, I found myself saying it a couple of times. You go through those phases where you just have a song stuck in your head, right? I’ve done that a couple of times.
[As part of a future article, I’m asking players about whether they do yoga or Pilates.]
RD: Do you do yoga or Pilates?
NC: Now and again, me and my wife like to go and take a class together. We do it just as a thing to do.
RD: Do you think it helps you in your baseball, or is this just an offseason fitness thing?
NC: Well, I think that any mindful exercise that you do that helps with mobility or focus or anything can be beneficial to you as a baseball player.
RD: What’s your favorite pose?
NC: [He grins] The savasana pose.
[That’s the “Corpse pose” done at the end of any practice.]
RD: Okay, that’s cheating. And your least favorite pose?
NC: Least favorite pose? I’d say my Warriors have always been difficult.
RD: Last question.
NC: Sure.
RD: Does it ever get tedious, the “Nick Castellanos hits a home run” stuff?
[Author’s note: In case you’ve forgotten the video clip that launched a thousand memes, see below.]
Two years ago today, Nick Castellanos hit a drive into deep left field pic.twitter.com/p32nBINXOx
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 19, 2022
unbelievable that nick castellanos has the day off today
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) May 30, 2024
NC: Honestly, I really don’t pay attention to it. That’s for everybody else.
I think it’s kind of funny how it’s been turned into, you know, it’s like, terrible moments. But I think that my first homer when all this started was a man apologizing, which is very humble, which is a good thing. And my ball went into a judgment-free-zone fountain. So I view that as a positive.
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As Randy wrote last week, ‘Nick Castellanos isn’t your average ballplayer. He’s an artist.”