When you’re rolling into the playoffs like the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies are, everybody on the team is usually happy with their role. Everybody except for Nick Castellanos, who has openly expressed his displeasure with manager Rob Thomson for reducing his playing time in favor of a platoon role.

This past weekend, Castellanos was subjected to some awkward interview questions in the locker room regarding his unfamiliar situation. That led to a wide variety of posts on social media defending Castellanos, including one from a former Phillies star.

Lenny Dykstra backs Nick Castellanos amid Phillies media stir-up

Having played eight seasons for the Phillies, Lenny Dykstra has experience dealing with the Philadelphia media. The centerfielder for the 1993 pennant-winning team still follows the Phillies and often voices his opinions on the team on X. He was quick to support Castellanos with a post calling out the clubhouse reporters.

“Guy hits his 250th [home run], team wins the game and all anyone wants to do is remind him he’s not playing everyday and ask if he’s mad about it? Why would anyone wanna start trouble during a World Series run?” Dykstra wrote in the post.

It’s easy to see why Dykstra would side with Castellanos as a former Phillie himself, but it’s hard not to agree with him here. Instead of congratulating the 13-year veteran on hitting the 250th home run of his career in an 8-2 Phillies win, the media seemed to be trying to twist a narrative out of the frustrated Castellanos, who’s known for giving blunt, one-word answers in interviews.

One can understand why Castellanos would be frustrated, as he played in all 162 games for the club last year. That streak stretched to 236 consecutive games played before he was suddenly benched ahead of a June 17 game against the Miami Marlins for making an inappropriate comment toward Thomson. Castellanos wasn’t pleased with being pulled late as a defensive replacement in the prior game, which has become the expectation when he even starts anymore.

His notoriously poor defense and inability to change his erratic approach at the plate are what have led Castellanos into a platoon with the left-handed hitting Max Kepler in right field. Castellanos has disappointed this season, as he’s slashing .254/.298/.409 with 17 home runs and 70 RBIs, though he’s come through with runners on base lately with four RBIs in his last two games.

Castellanos’ future with the Phillies is unclear after 2025, as the team could look to move on from him ahead of the fifth season of his five-year, $100 million contract. But for now, perhaps his productive series in Arizona is a sign of things to come as he settles into this new role on the bench ahead of the postseason. For the Phillies to finally win it all, Castellanos must give in to his manager’s request by accepting his role and leaving his ego behind.