"Angel Hernandez always took care of me" — Nick Castellanos offers surprising insight into his relationship with controversial umpire

Nick Castellanos has seen his fair share of umpires across his 12-year MLB career. The veteran slugger has not always agreed with them, but there was one in particular that he appreciated behind the plate: Angel Hernandez. The controversial ump was Castellanos' immediate answer to whether or not there was an umpire he ever felt good about being behind the plate.

Castellanos said:

"For me, it's going to sound funny, but Angel Hernandez. I mean, he always called fair on me. My dad was also his dad's pulmonary physician when his dad was going through lung cancer treatments and stuff. You know, Angel always took care of me."

Hernandez was one of the most controversial umpires in all of sports, and he had his fair share of issues with players and managers. Some even celebrated when he retired from baseball earlier this season, but Castellanos was not one of them.

Castellanos' Philadelphia Phillies teammate Kyle Schwarber had an infamous ejection after a called strike three in a 1-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2022, but Castellanos never shared that frustration.

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Nick Castellanos warned Mets before NLDS loss

After a brilliant regular season, the Philadelphia Phillies found themselves in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar spot: facing elimination. In Game 4, the Phillies trailed two games to one to the New York Mets. It was win or go home.

Nick Castellanos warned the Mets before losing (Imagn)

Ahead of that game, Castellanos, who served up the lone Phillies' win with a walk-off single, said the Mets didn't want to consider a Game 5 in Philadelphia. Via the New York Post, he said:

“Instead of just flushing it and forgetting it, I think, right now, it’s really important to embrace what the situation is. We lose, we’re going home. Baseball’s over for us. It’s a great opportunity because if we’re able to come in and scrape out a win here, I know that they do not want to go back to Philly for a Game 5.”

Ultimately, the Phillies did not scrape out a win. The Mets trailed by a run early before a Francisco Lindor grand slam sealed the win and the team's shocking trip to the NLCS. It was there that they'd lose to the Los Angeles Dodgers.