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Nick Castellanos of the Philadelphia Phillies was benched fore the middle game of their series against the Miami Marlins in South Florida.

The MLB’s king of hot takes Nick Castellanos shared his unique view on the viral incident that occurred a couple of weeks ago when a Phillies fan stole a home run ball from a child who was celebrating his birthday when Philadelphia was playing against the Miami Marlins.

As a guest on Los Angeles Dodgers’ star Mookie Betts’ talk show hosted by Bleacher Report, Castellanos played devils advocate for the “Karen” that marched towards a young fan and stole the home run ball out of his fathers hands.

“I don’t just see a ball, I see a very frustrated lady,” Castellanos remarked. “For years that felt like she’s probably been getting the s*** end of the stick, and now this thing happens, and she’s like ‘I’m not finishing second here! I need this for me!’”

The controversial Phillies slugger defended the person that was pretty much cut and dry the villain of the situation. Castellanos is known for his blunt personality, especially with reporters, who he is more than ready to call out for “lazy” questions every time he’s interviewed.

Castellanos’ Viral Past

Castellanos has been known as the “king of bad news” in the MLB ever since his viral home run while commentator Thom Brennaman was apologizing for making a homophobic remark on-air. The words “as here’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, it’ll be a home run and so that will make it a four to nothing ballgame. I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again” are synonymous with Castellanos as he gets into the box each and every time.

Ever since that viral video, Castellanos has had a number of coincidental home runs on days where notable figures have passed away. His apparent penchant for success on days where celebrities, athletes and famous figures pass away has become it’s own online sensation, as people have become convinced that he will homer whenever there is bad news.

When Pope Francis passed away back in April of this year, Castellanos was the most bet on player to hit a home run by a 3x margin.

Castellanos, Phillies Lock Up NL East Title

The Phillies strong play in August and September coupled with the New York Mets internal implosion allowed them to lock up the NL East Division on Monday, Sept. 15 for the second year in a row. Philadelphia holds the second overall seed in the National League, sandwiched between the Brewers and Dodgers.

The No. 2 seed will give Philly a bye through the Wild Card round and straight into the NLDS, which is what the remainder of their regular season games will be focused on. They have a five game lead over the Dodgers as of Sept. 19, so assuming the Phillies can lock up just a couple more wins, they will get that bye into the Divisional Series.

In his third season with the Phillies, the 33-year-old Castellanos has shown signs of regressing power numbers, but his average sits at .252, so his productivity remains a constant for a deep Philadelphia lineup.

Philadelphia is currently the favorite to win the World Series, with their betting line currently at +425.

Matt Skillings Matt Skillings is a Boston based sports journalist and a graduate of UMass Amherst, where he majored in journalism and communication. Matt covered the UMass men’s ice hockey team for three years for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. He was also a media intern for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League for two summers. Matt has additional bylines with the New England Hockey Journal, the Boston Globe and MassLive. More about Matt Skillings