At right times in NLDS, Phillies’ Nick Castellanos was money

PHILADELPHIA — John Middleton had already been $400 million into his wallet for two power hitting outfielders when Dave Dombrowski came to him two offseasons ago with an idea.

The conversation, as the Phillies’ CEO recalls, was brief.

“I interrupted him about two minutes into his talk,” Middleton said Thursday in a wet clubhouse. “I said, ‘Do you want to sign this guy? Let’s cut to the chase. I don’t need the buildup.’”

The guy was Nick Castellanos, the proposed free-agent investment being a smooth $100,000,000. The idea, among a few, was that he would be a right-handed power hitter to stash somewhere between the $79 million Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, he of the $330,000,000 contract.

Big investment.

Big possible return.

“That one,” Middleton said, “was easy.”

Middleton had the money and he had the urge to attend champagne-filled locker room celebrations, so he signed Castellanos, never flinching. He also had the patience to wait through Castellanos’ 13-homer season in 2022, and the 3-for-25 offense he supplied in the World Series.

There would be better times, Middleton, Dombrowski and Castellanos believed. By the time the Phils dismissed the Atlanta Braves from the NLDS with a 3-1 victory Thursday, their collective forbearance was validated.

For a second consecutive night, Castellanos hit two home runs, making him the first player in history to post consecutive multi-homer postseason games. He also joined Jayson Werth and Chase Utley as the only Phillies with more than one multi-homer game in the same postseason.

Where it all leads has yet to be revealed, but it will start Monday with an NLCS visit from the Arizona Diamondbacks. And Thursday, that was enough to key the in-house party.

“I’m really happy for him,” said Dombrowski, who once had signed Castellanos for the Detroit Tigers. “Because I know last year was tough for him, just because he is a better player than that and he knows it. It was a struggle to get it going. He didn’t have that comfort zone, but all of a sudden he found it.”

Castellanos found it much earlier in the season, the second in his five-year commitment, hitting .272 with 29 home runs, 106 RBIs and a spot in the All-Star Game. But he peaked in the four-game NLDS, batting .467 with four solo home runs, including one Thursday to forge a 1-1 tie, then another to open a two-run lead.

Despite a raucous crowd of 45,831, Citizens Bank Park had trended toward quiet after Austin Riley launched a fourth-inning home run for a 1-0 Atlanta lead. But Castellanos responded in the bottom of the inning, Trea Turner added a solo shot in the fifth, and Castellanos struck again in the sixth.

The bullpen and the defense took it from there.

“Well, we know how important momentum is in these postseason games,” Castellanos said. “So any time you feel it going in the other direction, we do a very good job of locking it in and getting the momentum back in our favor.”

Castellanos had a strong reminder of how momentum can swing when the Braves rallied to win Game 2, then went into a high-level celebration when Harper was doubled up at first base to even the best-of-five series at 1-1.

“”Watching as they celebrated when they doubled off Harper, and seeing everybody jump around and dance on the field as I was coming off,” Castellanos said, “that was a good feeling to get coming back and playing baseball here.”

The Phillies counter-punched with a 10-2 victory Wednesday, then finished the series Thursday, when at one point Castellanos received a standing ovation after he was featured on the big screen.

“That was really cool, man,” he said. “When you see that many people giving you acknowledgment in a positive way, there’s not a lot of words to capture the feeling. But it’s special.”

For that, Castellanos had a night to celebrate.

“When you are hitting the ball over the fence like that,” Turner said, “you can do whatever you want. And it is really cool watching him be comfortable and be himself.”