Nick Castellanos was drafted by the Detroit Tigers 44th overall in the 2010 MLB Draft, and he proceeded to spend the first seven years of his career with Detroit before being dealt to the Chicago Cubs in 2019.
A career .277 hitter with 120 home runs and 460 RBI, Castellanos reached a four-year, $64-million contract with the Cincinnati Reds during the offseason. And as fate would have it, the 60-game shortened 2020 season features the Reds hosting the Tigers in the first regular season game of the year.
And he's looking forward to it.
“It’s going to be fun,” Castellanos said. “I have a lot of respect for those guys, so it’s going to be cool seeing them.”
However, Castellanos is happy to be on a veteran team that's expected to contend.
“(This season) feels more unique because this is probably one of the better teams I’ve been on in awhile,” Castellanos told reporters.
“I think we have more established players on this team that have a common goal to win. I think that makes the game more fun.”
And while he was producing on a poor Tigers team last year, he knows he's more mature now and better aware of what he can bring to the table.
“I would say just from my maturity’s standpoint, I’m more aware of myself as a player and as an individual,” Castellanos said. “I think I can enjoy and recognize the situation at hand much more than when I was a 21-year-old kid, doing my best to survive in the big leagues.”
The Tigers and Reds will face off this Friday in the regular season opener after two Spring Training games.
– – Quotes via Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News Link – –
