I Cannot BELIEVE What We are Witnessing with this Situation...

The dust has now settled on a bit of a locker room beef within the Philadelphia Phillies team as Nick Cassianos was benched by Rob Thompson one game after apparently having an inappropriate comment following being taken out after a defensive change. I want to break down what this means for this entire Phillies team, why this story can kind of stay where it is that we now have sort of some of the details coming out and kind of reflect why I do think there was a bit something pointed from Rob Thompson and a good deal of the message here. We're going to dive exactly into the story today and we're going to start off with the headline here. So MLB.com that Nick Cassiano is not starting for the first time in 236 games, that Nick Cassiano is not starting due to Rob Thompson saying there was a comment that quote crossed the line. And to give a little bit more context on this specifically, we have from NBC's John Clark who tweets out, Phillies manager Rob Thompson told reporters that in Miami that Nick Cassiano will not play tonight because of an inappropriate comment Nick made when Rob took him out of the game last night in the eighth inning for defensive purposes. Nick had started 236 straight games, second longest active streak in the majors, the longest streak by a Phillies player since Pete Rose over 40 years ago. Now I think we kind of know the Nick Cassiano's vibe at this point in the game, but we know he is a little bit of a guy that beats to his own drum, has strong opinions, will commit to things. And I do think that this was one that hit a little bit close to home with him being benched in Miami with family members here. That's kind of what I think the root of a good deal of this is. But to me, this is fair game on all parties that I think Rob Thompson was the correct decision to take Rob Thompson or to take Nick Cassiano's out and make a bit of a defensive adjustment for Nick Cassiano's to get a little bit mouthy or make a comment, which we still don't know exactly what the comment was, that I think that's kind of on brand there. And for Rob Thompson specifically, the largest criticism that we've continued to hear from Rob Thompson from most people here is that he doesn't have enough of a backbone, that he is afraid to make these sort of franchise changing decisions or things that can shake up a locker room to that extent. And that's exactly what he did with the decision to bench Nick Cassiano's. Now, here's where I'm at on the story is I don't think we need to fool anyone and act like Nick Cassiano's is a good right fielder. Is he a good baseball player? Absolutely. And to bring up what he's produced this season, that he's got seven home runs, 36 RBIs, a 318 on base percentage, 422 slugging percentage, which is a bit down by his standards. But across his 282 at bats has like 78 hits, also stolen two bases, which is pretty wild and 58 strikeouts. And one of the areas of growth that I think has been notable for the start of the season forecast here has been the plate approach. This has been a guy that historically and certainly during his tenure with the Phillies has some of the worst played approach that I've really seen. I think during the majority of this year that he's shown a lot better approach at the plate, laying off some pitches, not chasing at the same rate, not being so determined to swing at the first pitch, which is kind of a calling card of his and in poetic fashion that we did see in his first game back when he did get subbed into the lineup, swinging at the first pitch on four straight at bats. I kind of love it. Once again, from all parties, there is sort of this orneriness to Nick Cassianos that is appealing to me, that I like, that I enjoy having a part of this Phillies team. Now we got a couple of different factors that I did want to dive into here. For starters, I do just want to hit on the defensive metrics that shout out to Bob Wankel here who tweets out Nick Cassiano's defensive rankings this season per stat cast. That is outs above average. He ranks 32nd out of the 32 right fielders with at least 50 attempts. His outfield jump 86th out of 89 qualified outfielders and his fielding run value 106th out of 106 graded outfielders with a minimum of 500 innings here. Nick Cassiano's is not a good defender, but he's a guy that I think still deserves credit. He's a guy that if he's in range, he will get there and make the play. That sort of sliding grab has become a bit of a staple to his game and he's had it in some huge moments for this Phillies team in the playoffs here. I think we've lost a little bit of the plot with Cassiano's and I think that he personally has sort of taken it personally, that he wants to be an everyday player and he has been. He's been an Ironman for this Phillies team across his entire tenure here, but he's here to match baseball. Let's not forget that when he was first brought to Philadelphia, you look at the first couple seasons of his career, he was operating as a designated hitter primarily with the Tigers for a reason there. That the mindset behind constructing this Phillies team, they've certainly strayed from this plot to an extent here, was that we're just going to build offense and figure out the rest of the defense. To his credit, Nick Cassiano's has welcomed that challenge and more or less played himself into a basically everyday right fielder. Does that mean that he should not be taken out for defensive purposes on occasion? Absolutely not there, but if Rob Thompson believes that is the best route to winning a baseball game, he should make that decision 10 times out of 10 and I admire him for even doing so. Now, what I do think is interesting in this is Rob Thompson has been, I don't want to say louder with the criticism, but has put it out on the table in a way that he's typically very guarded in this situation and shout out to Colin Newby of Philly Sports Network who points this out. He tweets, Rob Thompson is always extremely reluctant to criticize players to the media. He's calculated in his words, careful in his few instances of benching. What does it say about Nick Cassiano's that Thompson openly admitted to a quote, inappropriate comment last night and for example, here back in 2024 when Trey Turner was benched very clearly when he was struggling, Rob Thompson said, quote, it's really about his offense. He gets more time in the cage to hone in on his swing and just get him off his feet and just let him breathe for a minute. And then when he benched Alec Boehm, let's not forget in last year's playoffs that the quote that Rob Thompson gave the media was quote, I wanted to get some energy in the lineup with Sosa. He's kind of our energy guy and he's been swinging the bat particularly, Boehm, he's not swinging the bat particularly well. So a little bit guard, a little bit cautious with those comments, not quite the case with Nick Cassiano's. Now, what I think we should give credit and context to is Rob also has not put them on blast and said exactly what he said. My honest guess if I have to theorize is probably what happened is when the defensive arrangements sort of went down, there was probably a play when Nick Cassiano's walked over and was like, I would have made that play right there or I, you know, you keep me in the game, I'm making that play. That's sort of my guess for what happened. I've heard zero, even real like real deal speculations for people who've heard whispers from the team. Our guy, Luke Arcani down there covering the covering the games from inside the locker room right now, getting all those quotes and he hasn't heard anything either for what exactly was said. Maybe Nick Cassiano's was crazy out of line and when it Rob Thompson pretty hard and he has every right to do this. The point being, I think this is fair game on pretty much all parties and even if Cassiano's did get a little mouthy to an, uh, to an over, over the top level here, that's just sort of on brand for the entire thing. Let's not lose the vision that he's here to be a huge part of this baseball team and will continue to be the everyday right fielder moving forward. This is not some something that he should be looking over his shoulder, worried about his job and I don't think that is the case by any standards. Now a couple other things that I did want to pull up for starting off with over this. It's so poetic the way that that game ended when he was plugged back in the line and making the game winning chat, uh, catch showing a little bit of chest from himself there as he celebrates, pulls the shirt up. It all just kind of feels perfect to me and Nick Cassiano's to his credit. Every quote that I've seen has been pretty mature in the handling, but he's like, it's just unrealistic to believe that we're going to see eye to eye for 162 games over the length of entire season. That's just not how the world works or how baseball works. And he's correct about that. Costi for all of his flaws there does have a way with words and it's kind of poetic in the way that he puts this again. I'm a Nick Cassiano's guy. I'm happy that he's a part of this Phillies team and will be moving forward. Still under contract for one more year following the season. And I think even in the low points of the year that you can't really pinpoint the criticisms on Cassiano specifically. Sure, the power numbers could use to grow a little bit, but I do think that there will be a tear that he goes on at some point this year that benefits this baseball team to a major extent. And we have not seen that quite yet, but I do give him credit for continuing to battle being an Ironman for this Phillies team. And I kind of liked it. There's a little bit of energy, a little bit of spark within the clubhouse there for too long that the criticism that I've had of this Phillies team is they've felt a little dead out there that it's felt like a sleepwalk through a good portion of this season. That's not the case when we're talking about benching guys, having off color comments or crossing the line and critiques of the management. That sounds to me like guys who care. And I do think Nick Cassiano certainly fits in that list there. So shout out to Rob Thompson for having the stones to take Cassiano's in the field in the first place. Shout out to the response for everybody who I think in the long run, when we look back at this, this is going to be a moment where we talk about made this Phillies team stronger as a result. And it is nice that the dust has settled a little bit and it does not feel like there's any long term effects or hard feelings there. So do want to hear from you guys in the comments what you think directly about this. Is this just a non story completely in the way the Phillies are trying to play it off? Is this a situation where Rob Thompson should be viewed under a stronger microscope and really being judged for this type of decision? Or do you think Nick Cassiano is straight out of line in the first place? And that should be the story there. I kind of have told my opinion. I think it's fair game on all parties. I kind of love that it happened. And I do think that in the long haul that this will make this Phillies team better. So we'll see how things shake out from here. But do want to hear from you guys down below. And as always, appreciate each and every one of you guys tuning in. If you have not already, make sure you're smashing that subscribe button, drop a like on this video, hear your thoughts below. I'll be back talking to you next time right here on Phillies Digest. Peace.