Nick

Castellanos

Castellanos was designated for assignment earlier in the week and went unclaimed. He’s now free once more to explore the open market. The 34-year-old slashed just .191/.221/.339 with four homers and 20 RBI in 122 plate appearances with the Padres and seems to have lost the ability to mash left-handed pitching, which used to be his calling card. He can be had for the league minimum if any teams are interested.

Castellanos seemed like a solid low-cost gamble when the Padres signed him this offseason, and he was let go by the Phillies. Instead, the 34-year-old hit .191/.221/.339 in 122 plate appearances with four home runs, 20 RBI, and two steals. There may still be a team that claims him on waivers since his salary with the Padres is minuscule.

Castellanos ambushed a first-pitch sweeper from Jeffrey Springs in the fifth inning, launching a 382-foot (107.2 mph EV) solo shot that tied the game at 3-3. That would be his only hit in three at-bats on the night. The 34-year-old has had a rough year offensively so far, slashing a miserable .198/.226/.366 with four homers and 19 RBI in 106 plate appearances.

Manny Machado’s sac fly won the game in the 10th. Before that, Castellanos deposited a 98.5-mph sinker from Riley O’Brien into the seats in left to break up a shutout bid with two outs in the ninth. It was his second at-bat off the bench after he was inserted as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. Castellanos is sitting at .192/.231/.329 with two homers in 78 plate appearances. His roster status should still be pretty shaky, but it’s helping him right now that Miguel Andujar is struggling of late.

The Padres again used Fernando Tatis Jr. at second in order to play Castellanos in right field tonight, and it again made very little sense. Castellanos missed a ball that Tatis easily would have caught to produce the Cardinals’ second run of the game in the seventh in what wound up being a 2-1 loss. It might be worth it if Castellanos were hitting, but he’s at .183/.224/.282 in 78 plate appearances.

Miguel Andujar also hit his first homer today and still has 330 points of OPS on Castellanos (.830 to .493), so we’re not sure this is going to help much with playing time. Castellanos has started three of the Padres’ last 10 games, compared to seven for Andujar and five for Ty France. It still wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Castellanos is off the San Diego roster by Memorial Day.

Machado was removed from Monday’s game with a calf injury and sat out on Tuesday, but he’ll be right back out there on Wednesday. Miguel Andujar will play third again, while Nick Castellanos will start in left field and bat eighth, with Ramon Laureano getting a day off.

France, now 9-for-34 with three homers on the season, has started two straight games against righties and should be clearly ahead of Miguel Andujar and Nick Castellanos on the Padres’ depth chart for the moment. It’s not really relevant outside of NL-only leagues, but it is extra reason to think the Padres might move on from Castellanos in the not-so-distant future.

Even if Fernando Tatis Jr. functioning as a backup second baseman does make it a little more workable to have Castellanos, Miguel Andujar and Ty France all on the roster together, it’s still not going to make sense for the Padres to stick with this arrangement forever, especially since Luis Campusano might be a better right-handed DH than any of them. At this point, Castellanos seems like the obvious choice to get the boot if the Padres want to add a little more versatility. He’s just 7-for-43 with three doubles and no RBI.

It will be the first time that Tatis starts at second base. The 27-year-old is a former shortstop and plenty athletic, so it shouldn’t be too difficult a transition; even if there are some growing pains. Nick Castellanos will be the right fielder, Jake Cronenworth will handle shortstop and Xander Bogaerts is on the bench to begin Saturday’s game.