Nick Castellanos got heated with a reporter after being booed by Phillies fans

After Saturday’s 6-2 loss in 10 innings to the Chicago Cubs, Nick Castellanos and Phillies reporter Jim Salisbury had a heated exchange.

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos has not had a strong first season with the club. The 2021 All-Star enters Sunday hitting .245/.290/.366 with an OPS+ of 85. That coupled with his atrocious defense (his -12 Defensive Runs Saved are second worst in baseball) have amounted to a -1.2 rWAR season thus far.

As a result, Phillies fans booed Castellanos during Saturday’s game, where he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

After the game, NBC Sports Philadelphia writer Jim Salisbury and Castellanos got into a heated exchange about the boos.

Nick Castellanos, Phillies reporter had a heated exchange

Jim Salisbury asked Castellanos “Did you hear the boos …?” Castellanos retorted back “Nah, man. I lost my hearing” before saying “Come on, man, that’s a stupid question.”

Salisbury asked why it was a stupid question and then, things took off from there. The whole exchange was caught on video by WPVI, the ABC TV station in Philadelphia.

Phillies VP of Baseball Communications Kevin Gregg (who returned to the Phillies PR department before the start of this season) had to step in to diffuse the situation.

For this instance, it was an instance where it was not handled well by either side. Castellanos is making a lot of money and not producing so he will have to answer some tough questions. He shouldn’t have asked other reporters to “answer” the question for Salisbury either.

But Salisbury, who has been a BBWAA member for more than 20 years, could have asked a better question or phrased it better. Even on boos, he could have asked “What’s your response to the boos?”, “What do you think of the boos?”, or even “How difficult is it to face the boos or deal with the boos from your home crowd?”

As long as Castellanos and the Phillies continue to struggle a bit, they will have a difficult time getting around the tough questions. As they say, winning solves everything and winning would solve a lot of problems for the Phillies.