For the first time since September 30, 2023, Nick Castellanos is not in the Philadelphia Phillies lineup on Tuesday, but it’s not because he’s injured or being given a day off. Castellanos is not in the lineup after making an “inappropriate comment” when he was pulled from Monday’s game, manager Rob Thomson said.

“I wasn’t happy about (being removed from Monday’s game), spoke my mind,” Castellanos said about being held out of Tuesday’s lineup. “He said that I crossed a line. So my punishment is I’m not playing.”

Castellanos was replaced by Johan Rojas to start the bottom of the eighth inning Monday. He flew out to center field to lead off the top of the eighth, though it was a routine fly ball he ran out. It’s unclear what triggered the “inappropriate comment,” but removing Castellanos for defense in the late innings of a close game would not be unwarranted, even though Thomson does not do it often.

Sitting out Tuesday’s game ends Castellanos’ consecutive starts streak at 236 games. A modest record, to be sure, through it qualifies as an iron man streak in this era of load management. Castellanos has missed only three games over the last three seasons. His 391 games played from 2023-25 are the third most in baseball behind Matt Olson and Marcus Semien.

The Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 5-2 at loanDepot Park on Monday, putting their record at 43-29, two games behind the first-place New York Mets in the NL East.

On Wednesday, Castellanos was back, making a game-ending play.

The MLB All-Star starters have been revealed. This season was the first time the league implemented a two-part voting process. The first phase of the voting had three finalists for each defensive position. Nine outfielders advanced to the second phase of voting as well as a designated hitter in the American League. The second phase of voting determined the All-Star Game’s starters.

The process saw nine first-time All-Stars selected by the fans to start this year’s game. The headliners included San Diego Padres’ shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., Toronto Blue Jays’ first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani, who was voted to start as the AL’s designated hitter.

Mike Trout, who was voted as one of the starting outfielders for the AL, will be unable to play as he is recovering from a strained calf. Toronto leads all teams with three players making the starting lineup.

American League Starters:

• C- Salvador Perez 
• 1B- Vladimir Guerrero Jr 
• 2B- Marcus Semien
• 3B- Rafael Devers
• SS: Xander Bogaerts 
• OF- Mike Trout
• CF- Aaron Judge
• LF- Teoscar Hernández
• DH- Shohei Ohtani

National League Starters:

• C- Buster Posey
• 1B- Freddie Freeman
• 2B- Adam Frazier
• 3B- Nolan Arenado
• SS- Fernando Tatis Jr.
• CF- Ronald Acuña Jr.
• LF- Jesse Winker
• RF- Nick Castellanos

The National League team will be coached for the third consecutive year by Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, while Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash will coach the AL.

The rest of the MLB’s All-Stars will be named on July 4. Pitchers and reserves for each team will be determined by a process that considers selections made by the Commissioner’s Office and the player ballot choices.

Major League Baseball announced the largest vote recipients for the 2021 All-Star Game, reporting the top-three most popular choices at each position. These players all advance to the next round of voting, which will conclude on July 1.

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Pitchers and reserve players for the game are made based on a mix of both fan input as well as an analysis done by the Commissioner’s Office.

While stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. were given nods for the next round, other notable figures including José Ramírez, Francisco Lindor and Trea Turner did not get enough votes to move on to the next round. These players can still make the All-Star Game, although the path is a bit less conventional and assuredly more difficult.

Mike Trout and Byron Buxton were two of the most notable names in the outfield for the American League, although others are getting large vote counts (Aaron Judge and Michael Brantley, among others) and some currently on the injured list will most likely be joining them at Coors Field in mid-July. In the National League, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Nick Castellanos sit at the top of outfielder voting.

The infield voting in the American League is led by names such as Salvador Pérez at catcher, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for first base, Marcus Semien at second, Xander Bogaerts manning shortstop and Rafael Devers covering third.

In the same positional order, the National League is led by Buster Posey, Max Muncy, Ozzie Albies, Fernando Tatís Jr. and Kris Bryant.

The National League squad will be headed by Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts, and the American League will be guided by Rays’ manager Kevin Cash.

The game is scheduled for July 13.

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