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New York Times
22-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Nick Castellanos fails to homer after being the most bet-on prop in all of sports on Monday
Nick Castellanos has made a habit of inserting himself into awkward or notable moments in recent history with home runs. It all started in 2020 with 'As there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos…' when Thom Brennaman was trying to make a public apology during a broadcast. no way did this just happen, this is not real — paco (@AllaireMatt) August 20, 2020 Since then, other sobering moments have seemingly coincided with a Castellanos homer, turning him into a subject of online fascination. Castellanos has become so infamous that when Pope Francis died early on Monday, bettors rushed to bet on him to hit a home run. While some may find this distasteful, sportsbooks saw more action on the Castellanos homer prop than any other player prop in any other sport. BetMGM had the Philadelphia Phillies outfielder listed at +775 to hit a home run Monday at the New York Mets. The odds moved to +550 after a rush of bets. The sportsbook said it was still the most bet-on market of the night across all sports. There are more bets on Nick Castellanos (+550) to hit a Home Run at @BetMGM than: Any team to winAny team to coverAny over/underAny player prop In ALL sports. @Phillies outfielder NOT hitting a HR would be a good outcome for the sportsbook. — John Ewing (@johnewing) April 21, 2025 A whopping 97 percent of the tickets and 90 percent of the money on Castellanos' home run prop were on Castellanos to hit a home run. The doubters cashed in after he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. At this point, even opposing pitchers might be aware of the phenomenon; it was all over social media yesterday in anticipation. Of course, no pitcher wants to go viral for giving up a home run. In Castellanos' first at-bat on Monday, he got ahead 3-0 in the count. Perhaps Mets pitcher Tylor Megill was trying to pitch around him? He ended up striking out three pitches later. Advertisement Megill didn't avoid the zone on Castellanos' next trip to the plate. Megill struck him out on three pitches, all of which caught at least a little of the plate, according to MLB Gameday. Castellanos popped out in the sixth inning, but gave one a bit of a ride in the eighth. He got a high fastball on an 0-2 count and took it 348 feet to centerfield, but that wasn't quite enough to make the internet explode. 'Castellanos' warning track fly ball gave us a scare last night, but thankfully it stayed in the yard,' said Seamus Magee, Trading Manager at BetMGM. In the end, Castellanos' most notable action from Monday's 5-4 loss to the Mets was the SNY broadcast catching him eating an Uncrustable in the dugout. He's far from the only athlete to enjoy Uncrustables. Nick Castellanos has a sandwich in the Phillies' dugout 🥪 — SNY (@SNYtv) April 22, 2025 It remains to be seen if this will put an end to the joke, or if the internet will be back at it the next time something comes up that fits the narrative.
New York Times
07-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Astros takeaways: Building bullpen depth, balancing the roster and bringing Cam Smith along
MINNEAPOLIS — Situations like Sunday's are what Houston Astros manager Joe Espada is seeking to avoid. His closer collected six outs in the season's ninth game, one in which setup man Bryan Abreu pitched with Houston facing a two-run deficit. Abreu and Josh Hader are perhaps the two most indispensable players on the Astros' 26-man roster. Overwork them in April and risk fatigue later in the season, a reality Espada and his coaching staff realized after last season's 12-24 start. Advertisement So in spring training, Espada vowed to exercise more caution in deploying his two most dominant relievers. Doing so Sunday made sense — neither man had pitched since Thursday — but it can't become routine. For it not to, the middle of Houston's bullpen must become more trustworthy. After dumping Ryan Pressly's salary in January, the Astros signed no major-league free-agent relievers, prompting preseason skepticism about their depth. Those who are here have formed a solid response. Astros relievers not named Abreu or Hader have a 2.70 ERA across their first 26 2/3 innings. Luis Contreras is responsible for five of the eight earned runs they've allowed, meaning the five other relievers — Bryan King, Steven Okert, Tayler Scott, Rafael Montero and Ryan Gusto — have a 1.27 ERA. Contreras, Montero and King held the Minnesota Twins to three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings Sunday, affording the Astros time to engineer a six-run comeback and a chance for Abreu and Hader to pitch in a meaningful game. 'We did not know — and we still don't know, still trying to figure out — their roles,' Espada said after Sunday's game. 'But you earn spots, you earn moments and earn my trust to get the ball in big moments when you go out there and do what they did today.' Nine games are not a large enough sample to draw grand conclusions. Relievers are the most volatile players on any roster, and sustaining this level of dominance seems far-fetched. The Astros aren't asking for that, either. But if Montero has found something with his new splitter, he could work back into the high-leverage innings he once threw. Scott just finished a breakout season in which he posted a 2.23 ERA. Okert and King, two southpaws, are viewed as almost platoon neutral, allowing Espada to use them against any pocket of an opposing order, all to lessen the load Abreu and Hader must carry. Two were on, two were out and the Astros clung to a one-run lead in the fourth inning of Saturday's game, affording Cam Smith the chance for a signature moment amid his anemic start. Twins starter Bailey Ober seemed willing to facilitate it. He fired a first-pitch fastball that stayed in the middle of Smith's strike zone. Smith didn't even swing at the 89.8 mph cookie. (MLB Gameday) Three sliders and two whiffs later, Smith sulked back to the dugout. He struck out thrice Saturday and is 2-for-19 as a major leaguer, a season-opening slump that should surprise no one. 'We knew that if we were going to do this, that he was going to have to overcome some of these challenges,' Espada said Sunday. Advertisement Smith is in a situation with few precedents, one in which the Astros have acknowledged he will struggle but appear prepared to guide him through it. Abandoning Smith after nine games isn't part of the plan, but if such poor production persists, Houston might not have a choice. Smith has nine strikeouts in his first 21 major-league plate appearances. Five came in the first two games of the Twins series. Smith did not start Sunday's series finale, prolonging what appears to be a pattern in his playing time. Smith has started two games in each of Houston's first three series. He struck the first major-league pitch he saw for a single but has been nowhere near as aggressive since. Not swinging at Ober's hittable fastball is the most glaring example. Throughout spring training, team officials lauded Smith's plate discipline and swing decisions, traits even Espada acknowledged were more advanced than the Astros expected upon Smith's arrival. Telling Smith to change that isn't the answer. Discovering a better balance is. Smith has swung at 41.6 percent of the 77 major-league pitches he has seen, almost 6 percentage points below league average. His 25 percent chase rate is lower than the league average, too, but that Smith is whiffing at a 43.8 percent clip must elicit some concern. Far too much of Smith's contact has been on the ground, and pitchers are peppering him with breaking balls he is struggling to handle. Smith has a 71.4 percent whiff rate on the 13 breaking pitches he has seen, a minuscule sample but one that suggests he needs to hunt fastballs. 'He can be more aggressive early in the count,' Espada said. 'These teams are getting ahead of him. Being able to impact the ball early in the count can help him. That comes with time and confidence.' The former is required to cultivate the latter. A familiar problem is plaguing the Astros, one Espada and his coaches have sworn is a priority but are still working to address early in the season. Opponents are 9-for-10 stealing bases against Houston across its first nine games. Starting catcher Yainer Diaz has caught only one of the five runners who've tried to steal against him, and backup Victor Caratini hasn't thrown out any of the four men who've run on him. Advertisement Caratini and Diaz have demonstrated diminished arm strength and pop times from their career averages, though the small sample must be considered. That their pitchers aren't quicker to home plate or varying their looks is giving neither catcher much of a chance to catch anyone. Diaz, who had the third-strongest arm in baseball last season at 84.3 mph, has averaged 78.9 mph on the three throws he has made this year. Caratini's 2.05-second average pop time — the time between a ball hitting the catcher's mitt and his throw reaching a position player — is the third slowest in baseball this season. 'We need to do a better job in that aspect,' Espada said. 'If a team sees that we're not doing our jobs, they're going to exploit that area. But we need to do more. Our pitchers are aware of that. We need to be more conscious of teams trying to get an extra base.' Outfield prospect Jacob Melton's recovery from 'upper back discomfort' will be measured in weeks not days, general manager Dana Brown told the team's pregame radio show Sunday. Melton arrived at spring training nursing a back injury and reinjured himself while attempting a diving play during one of the team's final Grapefruit League games. He started the season on Triple-A Sugar Land's active roster but never appeared in a game before being placed on the injured list Saturday. Back issues in a 24-year-old prospect are always troublesome, but Melton's latest setback is more problematic for a major-league roster in need of balance. Houston has three left-handed hitters on its 40-man roster: Yordan Alvarez, Taylor Trammell and César Salazar. Alvarez is entrenched in the major-league lineup, Trammell is still rehabbing a calf injury he suffered in spring training and Salazar is a defense-first third catcher. Sunday, Brown acknowledged speaking with other clubs throughout the winter and spring in search of a left-handed bat, but nothing materialized — unsurprising for a club that, according to team sources, is trying to stay below the luxury tax. Advertisement Releasing Ben Gamel and Jon Singleton toward the end of spring training signaled the Astros' comfort in constructing a right-handed-heavy roster. The first nine games demonstrated how difficult the arrangement might be. All nine of the starting pitchers Houston has faced this season have been right-handed. All three of the Seattle Mariners' scheduled starters this week are righties, too. Houston's lineup has taken a major-league low eight at-bats against left-handed pitching. The Chicago White Sox have taken the second fewest, with 39. The Astros exited Sunday slashing .219/.297/.314 against right-handed pitching. No American League lineup has a lower slugging percentage against righties, and only three teams have a lower OPS. Melton existed as perhaps a midseason answer to some of these concerns. The Astros' uninspiring outfield might have made him an option even earlier. It's worth wondering when he'll emerge again. (Photo of Josh Hader: David Berding / Getty Images)
