“Nick Castellanos responds to Mets whim.”

There are so many gutsy Teams of Destiny in this year’s playoffs that it’s difficult to pick just one to win the World Series based on its narrative power. But the San Diego Padres have one too many really good players to qualify, and the Detroit Tigers lost their first game of the Division Series, so the odds, depending on how you count, alternate between Francisco Lindor and “OMG” could fall”-powered New York Mets.

It’s never a disadvantage to be the dominant player in a series, but a favored team will never have the whims of a team that should be losing. The core of the Philadelphia Phillies this year remains the same core that made up the Himbo-led “Oh dear God, would you please stop blogging about the” Phillies of 2022 and 2023; If you look at each year’s roster, you won’t find any truly significant moves or signings that would explain in baseball how the atmosphere around the Phillies has changed so drastically. And yet the Phillies started this year as the best team in baseball and ended the year not quite as far off the mark. Any sensible fan would rather have a team like that than a team that bravely makes its way into the playoffs from time to time. But something – even if it’s just the illusion of Zen – is lost when you trade magic for expectation. There is no danger of collapse for the team that is simply having fun, and no relief from that danger for the team whose entire season will be deemed a failure if they don’t advance.

After one game and six and a half innings against the Mets, the Phillies collapsed. It was a page straight from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first-round playbook: An impressive defensive performance couldn’t make up for the bats freezing. The Phillies’ best arms couldn’t buy an out with a two-strike count. New York’s Luis Severino had somehow reached the pitch count portion of the night where a bullpen collapse seemed to be the Phillies’ only hope.

In a five-game series, losing the first two games at home is a death sentence. That’s the insidious and annoying thing about baseball playoffs: No sensible management or team-building philosophy can solve a problem or set of such problems; All players just have to do it be betterwhatever that means. If you’re very lucky, this will happen in real time.

Things didn’t go smoothly after Bryce Harper gave the Phillies the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a Severino fastball up the middle. Not even when Nick Castellanos equalized with a home run of his own. The Phillies bullpen continued to get nothing out of the two-strike counts, and the game oscillated between Mets home runs and production from the middle of the Phillies lineup. Matt Strahm didn’t make the save for the Phils. In the ninth, Mets third baseman Mark Vientos, one of the rare players to end the year with a higher than career rWAR, hit his second home run of the game, tying the score.

For all the talk about the passion of the Philly sports fan base, even the sickening back-and-forth of Sunday afternoon’s game remained quieter for fans than whatever the hell was happening in Los Angeles. Pete Alonso was booed when he came to bat but otherwise much of the attention was focused inwards. Castellanos, who just wasn’t very good most of the year, suffered two unfortunate hits in the fourth inning against Severino; When he finally made a throw well below the zone, he received sarcastic applause. Lip readers caught Castellanos muttering to himself, “You damn people.” If Alec Bohm, unfortunately on the bench for this game but still close to our hearts, is any indication, Castellanos would be fine.

Castellanos has been the primary hitter in the Phillies’ lineup this postseason. This is neither an exaggeration nor a special recognition of his strength or grip, although he has strengths in both areas. He deserves this title simply by being the guy batting behind Bryce Harper. Like any sensible team, the Mets don’t want to pitch in front of Harper. Harper himself clearly demonstrated the risks this task entails with his home run in the sixth inning. Lesson learned. Of the 48 pitches Harper has seen this postseason, only 13, or just over a quarter, have been in the zone. The handling of Harper, as described in the FOX commentary box, was the old unintentional, deliberate approach; Accordingly, the burden on the club shifts to the man behind him.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Mets pitcher Tylor Megill threw seven pitches to Harper, only one of which was in the zone. Harper worked a full count and had one of the best takes of his life on a 3-2 split to make Castellanos punch. It’s silly to suggest that Castellanos’ subsequent walk-off single was inevitable or, shall we say, preordained, but it made perfect sense, in a very Filipino kind of calculation: Of course, after being booed, Castellanos would hold on and win 3:3. 3. Of course he hit a home run. Of course, he would win a crucial game with ups and downs for the Phillies.

It remains unclear to what extent being a bit of an asshole can be considered charming in sports, but when faced with whimsy, you have to dig up your own magic wherever you can find it. Castellanos is something of a relic from the Phillies’ past years: hard-pressed, often unsuccessful, with an “I don’t have a college degree” attitude. I hit baseball.” If the Phillies are looking for something beyond those expectations, Castellanos would be the primary hitter in the lineup no matter where he hits. Just look at the on-field interview Castellanos gave after the game when he was asked what was going through his mind while at bat during his walk-off.

“Honestly, nothing really,” Castellanos said. That’s what we’re looking for.