Phillies Bench Nick Castellanos Over Inappropriate Comments At Manager Rob Thomson

On a day when a Nick Castellanos HR seemed like a sure bet, the outfielder hit the bench for the Philadelphia Phillies, facing the Marlins, over an inappropriate comment he made to his coach the day before. Castellanos' passion got the best of him after seemingly going a step too far with his skip. 

Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson announced that Castellanos was sitting out Tuesday's game in Miami after receiving some harsh words from the veteran during Monday's contest. He went 1-for-4 in the Phillies' win.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JUNE 14: Nick Castellanos #8 of the Philadelphia Phillies is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring a run in the fourth inning during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park on June 14, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 3-2. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

"I understand the decision," Castellanos said (via ESPN).  

"It was when I got taken out. I wasn’t happy about it. I spoke my mind. [Thomson] said that I crossed a line, so my punishment is that I’m not playing.

"FREE CASTELLANOS" chants broke out at Marlins Park in his absence.

While Thomson did not reveal what Nick said to warrant a benching, he lauded the two-time All-Star's "passion."

"One of the many things about Nick that I love is that he’s very emotional," Thomson said on Tuesday. "He loves to play, and he loves to play every inning of every game. I just thought last night, he made an inappropriate comment after he came out. And so today he’s not in the lineup and I’m gonna leave it at that." The Phillies could've used Castellanos for a spark, losing to the Marlins 8-3 on Tuesday.

Castellanos' streak of consecutive games played (236), reaching back to Sept. 30, 2023, was snapped as a result of the benching. He is slashing 278/.321/.425 with seven home runs and 36 RBI.

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