Defending Nick Castellanos, who spoke the truth about the Phillies and Mets
Nick Castellanos spoke the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth Wednesday night. After the New York Mets eliminated Castellanos’ Philadelphia Phillies three-games-to-one in the best-of-five NLDS, the slugger offered a succinct take on the outcome.
NBC Sports Philadelphia quoted Castellanos offering this postgame assessment: “Do I think that (the Mets) are a better team than us? No. But this series they were.”
Castellanos took a lot of social media heat for that comment, especially from Mets fans, who appeared to feel that the Phillies right fielder had peed on their victory…one that advances them to the NLCS next week against the winner of the Padres-Dodgers series.
But for at least two legitimate reasons, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with what Castellanos said.
First and most importantly, every athlete needs to believe fully in himself and his team. There’s no success without belief. It’s a message coaches from youth league on up have been inculcating in their players for generations: you’re good, you have the talent, you can do it.
Show me a player or team who deeply believes the other guy or team is better and I’ll show you a whipping in the making.
There's nothing wrong with Nick Castellanos' take on Phillies vs. Mets
That’s what Castellanos was expressing; his deeply held personal belief that he, Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler and their pals were abstractly more talented than Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso and their gang.
Because abstract talent doesn’t always prevail in baseball – effort, matchups, natural slumps and fortune also play roles – the most talented team doesn’t always win. Anyone who hasn’t caught on to that hasn’t been watching the Rangers, Braves, and Nats roll to recent World Series titles.
Castellanos also did not dishonor the Mets’ victory. In fact, he recognized it, acknowledging that “this series they were (better).” He’s right there, too. This week, the Mets simply outplayed the Phillies.
But there’s a second reason why Castellanos shouldn’t be criticized for his honest expression of sentiment. He was right. Objectively, the Phillies were the better team.
What do Mets fans think the 2024 regular season proved, if not that? The Phillies won the NL East by six games, not a freakish margin. They won the regular season series over New York, admittedly by just a 7-6 margin, and outscored the Mets by 10 runs in the process.
They scored more runs per game than the Mets and allowed fewer. Over the course of the full season, they were – as Castellanos asserted -- the better team.
What they were not was the better team recently…and that’s different. New York went 40-27 through the season’s second half, and 17-9 in September. The Phillies were 33-33 and 15-11. Given those numbers, you could make a valid argument that although Philadelphia deservedly won the division title, the Mets should actually have been favored in their playoff matchup. If you had made such an argument, you would have been right.
In effect, although not in those precise words, that’s what Castellanos was saying. The Mets deserved to win the series. They were the better team this week, and they are the better team right now. But Castellanos has no reason to apologize for believing his Phillies were better overall.
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