ARLINGTON -- For the third time in as many days, the Phillies' outfield had a different look on Saturday night -- but this one was very different.
For only the third time this season -- and the first unrelated to discipline or injury -- right fielder Nick Castellanos was not in the Phillies' starting lineup. Newcomer Harrison Bader started in center field, while the Phils loaded up on left-handed hitters with Brandon Marsh in left field and Max Kepler sliding across the outfield to take Castellanos' place in right field.
Manager Rob Thomson said before the game that it was a preplanned move due, in part, to the firm turf at Texas' Globe Life Field. The idea was to give all of his outfielders one day off during this weekend's series -- and with the Rangers starting dominant right-hander Jacob deGrom on Saturday, that felt like the right spot to rest Castellanos.
Philadelphia's makeshift outfield proved to be the difference in the Phillies' 3-2 win over the Rangers. deGrom cruised through 6 1/3 scoreless innings, looking mostly untouchable along the way ... until the Phillies' outfield trio finally broke through against the two-time Cy Young winner.
Trailing 1-0 in the seventh, Marsh ripped a one-out single through the right side and Bader worked a five-pitch walk before Kepler ripped a liner into the right-field corner for a go-ahead two-run double. With deGrom out of the game two batters later, Kepler came in to score on Bryson Stott's RBI single.
“I'm happy for him,” Thomson said. “There's been a lot of talk about him, a lot of noise. Like I've said for a while, he's had good at-bats for a bit -- and he showed it tonight. He came through.”
Kepler's game-changing double came off the bat at 99.6 mph. He had a fifth-inning single that left his bat at 96.1 mph. His hardest-hit ball of the night was a 102 mph rocket that traveled a Statcast-projected 386 feet to the track in left-center field -- but was caught for an out.
deGrom has made 102 starts since 2019. Kepler is only the fourth player in that time to hit three balls at least 96 mph off deGrom in the same game. The others are Juan Soto, Julio Rodríguez and Kerry Carpenter.
Does it feel better to not only come through, but to do so against a guy like deGrom?
“A little bit,” Kepler said. “But at the end of the day, it’s just another pitcher on the mound -- no disrespect to Jacob. … But yeah, he’s definitely one of the best.”
Even seeing Kepler's name on the lineup card was a bit of a surprise. Sure, the Rangers were starting a right-hander and Thomson has leaned heavily on his oft-discussed platoons, but the Phillies' skipper had already revealed that Bader would be starting in center field against deGrom. It also seemed likely that Thomson would stick Marsh's hot hand in left.
The part nobody saw coming was Castellanos. The only two games he didn't start this season came on June 17, when he was benched after making a comment to Thomson the night before, and July 26, after he tweaked his left knee the night before.
Castellanos' season OPS has dipped to .727, its lowest point since May 27. He's hitting just .211 with a .588 OPS since the start of July, and his defensive struggles -- the source of those comments a couple months ago -- have been well-documented.
So, could mixing in some days off for Castellanos become part of the plan?
“Casty is going to play,” Thomson said. “The question is left field or center field -- what we’re going to do there. Casty can get some days off here and there, I don’t think that’s an issue. But he’s going to play.”
Kepler’s big game came one night after Marsh keyed the Phillies’ 9-1 rout with a season-high four hits. Between the Rangers starting a left-hander in Patrick Corbin and Thomson’s plan to get each outfielder a day off this series, neither Kepler nor Marsh is expected to be in the lineup for Sunday’s finale.
That’s not an indication of the outfield plan moving forward. As for what that plan will entail, it remains to be seen.
Whatever the plan is, it’s working.
Philadelphia is 6-2 since the outfield shuffle began following the acquisition of Bader. The Phillies trailed the Mets by a half-game in the NL East at the Trade Deadline.
They now lead New York by 4 1/2 games. It’s Philadelphia’s largest division lead of the season.
“It just shows that whatever positioning, whatever lineup we have out there, we can contribute from all angles,” Kepler said. “Whether we’re shifted around defensively or offensively, I think we’re very flexible and formidable in a way where you just try to be as selfless as you can so you can just contribute to the collective and the team.”