Castellanos brings fearless attitude
Unrelenting Reds slugger is off to impressive start
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Nick Castellanos wasn't going to step away from the challenge.
Back in 2010, 10 years before he signed with the Cincinnati Reds, Castellanos was a tall, skinny high school senior at Archbishop Mccarthy High School in Florida. His coach, Rich Bielski, knew Castellanos was on track to be a high MLB draft selection.
Bielski thought if Castellanos showed he could steal more bases, he'd have a better shot at being a first-round pick.
Bielski came up with the idea of a friendly wager, and Castellanos came up with the terms: If Castellanos led the team in stolen bases, Bielski had to show up to Mccarthy's postseason banquet in a pink tuxedo with pink pants, pink shoes and pink ruffles.
When Bielski arrived at that event a few months later, take a guess at what he was wearing.
“If there's any one guy that loves to win, it's Nick Castellanos,” Bielski said. “And if there's any one guy who hates to lose, that's the thing he hates most in life.”
So far this season, Castellanos is winning at the plate. Entering Saturday's games, Castellanos ranked first in MLB with a 1.467 OPS. He's also tied for first with teammate Tyler Naquin for the MLB lead in slugging (1.000) and ranks seventh in batting average (.429).
When Castellanos was in a foot race to home plate last Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals, Castellanos won that competition and scored on a headfirst slide. After flexing over Cardinals pitcher Jake Woodford, Castellanos sparked a series win for the Reds over the Cardinals and a two-game stretch where Cincinnati scored 21 runs.
“He's tough; he's definitely not afraid of anything,” Reds manager David Bell said. “That's part of why he's such a good player, that toughness and that desire to be in that situation where he has a chance to help his team win a game. He loves it.”
And Castellanos has always loved it. Entering Castellanos' senior year, Mccarthy didn't have a state championship in recent memory. The team didn't even have a shortstop.
Castellanos played third base throughout high school, and he knew he'd be drafted at that position. At 6 feet 4, Castellanos was much taller than the prototypical shortstop, but that didn't prevent Bielski from asking him if he'd
be willing to make the switch.
Naturally, Castellanos told his coach that he wanted to be the best shortstop in the state.
During his senior year, Castellanos was driving so many balls the other way that scouts were saying Castellanos couldn't pull the ball to left field. Castellanos caught wind of that right before Mccarthy played Miami Columbus, another one of the top baseball programs in the state.
Castellanos told Bielski, “Coach, I'm going to pull one tonight.”
“Facing a future professional pitcher,” Bielski remembers, “Castellanos drilled one of the furthest hit balls I've ever seen. After that, there were no more questions.”
Entering the state tournament, Castellanos had established himself as a first-round pick. But that drew attention.
In the state championship game at Port St. Lucie, the spring training home of the New York Mets, the score was close and Mccarthy had a runner on third. According to Bielski, that's when the opposing pitcher threw a high fastball at Castellanos.
Bielski said Castellanos could have reacted in the heat of the moment. He told Castellanos, “Nick, calm yourself down. You are going to go on to bigger and better things than high school baseball. Let's keep this all in perspective.”
With a runner still on third, Castellanos got back in the box. He drove a line drive to right-center field. The baserunner easily scored, and Castellanos eventually led Mccarthy to its first of four state titles in seven years.
After Castellanos graduated, Bielski said he had a program full of players trying to emulate him.
“He was the type of player that wanted to beat you on the field,” Bielski said. “After, he's going to turn the power down and be the polite young man that he is. That's the way he plays the game. He's very respectful of the game. But he went after it like his life depended on it.”
In 2021, Castellanos is making a similar impact with the Reds.
On Opening Day, Castellanos hit the first home run of the Reds season, and he flipped his bat and skipped down the first-base line. Two days later, Castellanos had a hit, stole home and set the tone for a Reds win over the Cardinals. On Sunday, he hit a home run and a triple.
This season, Castellanos said he's even more confident.
“I'd say the more secure I've become as a man, and who I am, the more my raw emotions come out on the field,” Castellanos said. “I'm not here to disrespect nobody or whatever, but I want to win.”