Manny Machado gives compelling, honest answer about Nick Castellanos

Earlier this week, the San Diego Padres’ lineup took a major twist as the club decided to designate Nick Castellanos for assignment and release him two days later.

Before Friday night’s 5-0 loss to the New York Mets, Manny Machado met with reporters and talked about how the clubhouse was disappointed with the departure of Castellanos.

“The news got everybody by surprise,” Machado said. “I don’t really try to put myself in a [General Manager’s] shoes and why they’re doing the decisions. Obviously, we just care about Nick and what he meant to us in the clubhouse.”

Over the offseason, Castellanos was released by the Philadelphia Phillies and quickly signed with the Padres on a 1-year deal of $780,000.

Because Castellanos was originally released by the Phillies in the offseason, his release will only cost San Diego $296,141 due to his prior deal of $20 million.

Castellanos’ release comes after a poor start to the 2026 season, where he had a .560 OPS, with 4 home runs, 20 RBIs, and 34 strikeouts.

His struggles at the plate were due to offspeed pitches and breaking balls.

Last year, he was hitting .283 against offspeed pitches but this year he declined to .063 average. Against breaking balls, he had another drop, hitting .220 last season and now hitting .171 this season.

The Padres’ lineup has struggled this year, ranking as one of the worst in baseball in almost every hitting category. The reality was that San Diego needed to find ways to get better, even if that meant cutting ties with favorites in the locker room.

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Machado said that Castellanos was a favorite in the clubhouse and was a teammate he will remember forever.

“He was awesome,” Machado said. “He had some really big at-bats for us, and I think those memories won’t go away. He did a lot of good things for us.”

While it’s been less than a week since Castellanos was released, Machado added that he hasn’t spoken to him yet but plans to in the future.

“I think [that’s] tough news when you hear it,” Machado said. “I kinda want to give him his time before we wanna talk and see where his head is at.”