ATLANTA — Nick Castellanos raised his right arm as he rounded first base. After touching second, he clapped his hands together. By the time he got to third, his teammates were waving towels and hanging over the dugout railing.
At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, it may have been the biggest home run hit by a Phillies player so far this season.
Not only did Castellanos give the Phillies a two-run lead in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s eventual 3-1 victory over the rival Atlanta Braves, but he broke a spell of 110 plate appearances without a home run. It was his longest drought since 2015, and by all accounts, it has weighed on the $100 million slugger like a 10-ton gorilla.
So, yeah, it was clutch, calming, and 100% cathartic, all rolled into one mighty right-handed swing on a slider from Braves reliever Collin McHugh.
All along, Phillies officials have said their biggest trade deadline additions would come from within. They were referring to Jean Segura, who is due to return this week from a broken right index finger, and Bryce Harper, who may return later in the month from a fractured left thumb.
But they also were talking about Castellanos. Coming into Wednesday, he ranked 123rd among 154 players who are qualified for the batting title in slugging percentage. He had homered only once since May 30 and not at all since June 30.
And he was pressing. Man, oh, man was he pressing.
“He’s so disappointed in himself that he’s letting Dave Dombrowski down, the owner down, his teammates down, the fans down,” Matt Martin, Castellanos’ longtime personal hitting coach, said last week. “He just hasn’t been right, and he’s made it worse.”
Maybe, then, a game-winning homer in Atlanta will ease Castellanos’ mind.
Castellanos’ 420-foot shot followed a replay review that overturned a call that would have ended the eighth inning. J.T. Realmuto was called safe on a potential rally-busting double play. The tying run scored on the play, and Castellanos was able to step to the plate.
The bullpen made the 3-1 lead hold up. Jose Alvarado recorded the final out of the eighth inning to bail Seranthony Dominguez out of a jam before newly acquired David Robertson — still wearing his Cubs-blue spikes — plowed through the middle of the Braves’ order to nail down a save.
