2:44PM: The Phillies officially announced Castellanos’ placement, due to a right oblique strain. To make room for Guthrie, the Phillies designated infielder Luis Garcia for assignment. Garcia has hit .227/.323/.338 over 1407 career PA in Philadelphia’s farm system, and was still ranked 14th on MLB Pipeline’s list of the team’s top 30 prospects due to his defense and a seeming offensive breakout in A-ball in 2021. However, Garcia has struggled badly this year at both the high-A and Double-A levels.
12:21PM: The Phillies have placed outfielder Nick Castellanos on the 10-day injured list. Outfielder Dalton Guthrie had his contract selected from Triple-A, and another 40-man roster move will be necessary to accommodate Guthrie’s addition to the active roster.
Castellanos left Friday’s game due to an oblique injury, with manager Rob Thomson saying that the outfielder would undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the problem. There hasn’t been any word on the results of the MRI, but even a lower-level oblique problem usually results in at least a minimal IL visit. Castellanos and the Phillies can only hope that the injury is minor, as otherwise Castellanos could be in danger of missing the rest of the regular season and possibly the playoffs.
It has been an underwhelming season overall for Castellanos, who signed a five-year, $100MM free agent deal with Philadelphia in March. The slugger is hitting only .265/.305/.397 over 531 plate appearances, resulting in a subpar 96 wRC+. However, Castellanos has looked a lot more like his old self in recent weeks, with five home runs and a .318/.348/.505 slash line in his last 112 PA.
With Castellanos now sidelined, Matt Vierling figures to see much of the action in right field, as Vierling has already been filling in for the last couple of days and while Castellanos also recently missed time with a turf-toe injury. Bryce Harper is still limited to DH duty and isn’t an option in the outfield, leaving Vierling, utilityman Nick Maton, and now Guthrie as the choices for right field playing time.
Guthrie was a sixth-round pick for the Phillies in the 2017 draft, and the 26-year-old is now on the verge of his Major League debut. He posted some middling numbers over his first three pro seasons, but hit well enough in 2021 to earn a promotion from Double-A to Triple-A, and Guthrie has continued to perform at the highest minor league level. Over 513 total PA at Triple-A in 2021-22, Guthrie has hit .299/.354/.466 with 12 home runs and 23 steals (out of 30 chances).
Beyond just outfield depth, Guthrie also offers the Phillies some versatility around the diamond, which could hint at Maton perhaps getting more work as an outfield-specific player. Guthrie has played mostly center and right field this season at Triple-A, with only a handful of games as a second baseman, third baseman, and shortstop. However, Guthrie was initially drafted as an infielder, and hadn’t played a pro game in the outfield until 2021.
the September fall is here. it was fun while it lasted
The Phils already gifted the Mets the East through September. Why stop now? They will probably beat the Braves even if 50% of the best players are injured.
Wut?
I think he’s referring to the fact that the Phils played the Braves well, but the Mets terribly. Braves still have a chance to kill the Phils though.
Meh, I made a boo-boo typo. I meant to say “through August”
Flexing Nick Castellanos
Announce Phillies season on 60-day IL.
Dumb fake baseball fans revel in others teams bad luck. Worst are the obnoxious fan base elements. They know who they are. If you are a Mets fan – you gonna tell me it won’t be one of the most exciting post seasons ever facing a team 90 miles away in a top 5 market in October? Dumb.
Phillies always stink out west. I think they turn it back on after this road trip. They aren’t this bad.
Agree 110%, my worry is the bullpen has been taking a beating recently….
Walks have been a real issue all of a sudden. And obviously huge injuries. Hopefully they can right the ship.
The Jays stumbled recently.
The Guardians have scored 2 runs in 6 games.
The season isn’t over.
Always
Lifelong philly fan preparing myself for September swoon. Sadly.
It’s unfortunately in our blood….stay the course, we’ve got a good support group here!
It won’t be talked about as much because it’s for the WC, but if the Phillies fail to make the playoffs it would be a bigger collapse than the 07 and 08 Mets
SD’s failure to make the playoffs last season would still be plenty worse. They really didn’t have any excuse.
In terms of overall collapse, the 2007 Mets are undeniable champs.
On the subject of Castellanos, however, the contract will be historically bad for this team. His bat was already slow this year and it’s not going to get quicker. Now injuries to boot.
He can easily bounce back next season. This was a MVP candidate last year. He’s been mediocre at best this year.
Read some pining for Guthrie this summer, well you got it….Guy has got a decent story on his climb….Wish him success…
Vierling, Maton and Guthrie…that’s the RF options. Looks like Guthrie has the most pop?
Win today, lick the wounds and head home….Just make the playoffs
Agree. Unfortunately today we get the Giants ace, so a win won’t be easy.
LOL they are getting shut out by Rodon.
That would make sense, but the Phillies defy all logic. They’ll score 10 runs off Rodon and get shutout by the Giants bullpen, losing 14-10.
That was a brutally painful loss. Whole team sucks right now.
Another horrible SP performance that killed the BP. Still, I can’t defend Topper’s BP strategy today. He’s got to go.
I don’t blame Topper. No one is hitting when they need to. SP has been terrible. Robertson is lights out everywhere except Philly where he stinks. Team is not this bad, but honestly I see no reason to have any confidence in them.
I’m looking forward to Guthrie. Played at UF with:
1B Pete Alonso
3B Jonathan India
CF Harrison Bader
P A.J. Puk
Guthrie can play SS, LF, CF
The Phillies were the last hope for that struggling city.
???
The rest of their teams suck, they allow voter fraud, and crime is out of control. Hope that helps.
So you haven’t heard of football then?
@baseballbrian,
Actually it doesn’t, di€k.
Philly is a football city and Eagles seem okay, but more importantly the 76ers are one of the best teams in the East. The Flyers stink.
C’mon, you are intelligent enough to know no team will ever win a championship with Harden on the team.
Haha. I’m not greedy. I happily settle for playoffs.
“Philly is a football city……”
Actually, most cities are.
This is true. New York is a baseball town though. Yankees specifically.
San Diego isn’t…The Chargers are dead to us! The Spano’s family can burn in H@ll for their betrayal of us San Dieagan’s!
Dean Spano’s is a bum! #SanDiegoSuperTraders
Apparently, you take your sliders with some bitter sauce and a side of troll….But hey if replies are what you need to get through today…I got you……
That’s a shame. I was hoping we would eventually get a Luis Garcia for every single team.
Phillies have been looking for the next Juan Samuel for decades….under 5’10” under 180lbs grew up on an island…..draft him….
Bummer a poorly run team like the Phillies will make the playoffs this year because Manfred wants to turn MLB into the NBA
What does this even mean? Pure nonsense.
Not that I’m agreeing with him but he is referring to the additional MLB playoff spots this year. Half of the NBA teams make the playoffs.
Weak divisions spawn a playoff team ever year. Take any one of the Mets, Braves or Phillies out of the NLE and their record skyrockets. Don’t get me wrong, the NLE stunk as recently as last year, but in my mind the extra WC potentially makes up for some of the weak division winners making the playoffs. The NLC and ALC are terrible this year for example and the 3rd WC teams are arguably better than whoever wins those divisions.
Wake Up Philly fans! Despite all of your injuries, My Brew crew keeps on stinking. No worries about getting to playoff. just try winning a series. In all seriousness, you are the 3rd best team even if healthy. you will have to deal with it!