Phillies' Nick Castellanos Rips Rays Edwin Uceta: 'Like My 2-Year Old Throwing a Fit'

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos was highly critical of Tampa Bay Rays reliever Edwin Uceta after he hit him with a pitch during the Phillies' 9-4 win on Tuesday.

Uceta, who entered the game with a 0.79 ERA, came in during the eighth inning and surrendered four hits and three earned runs before getting ejected after just one-third of an inning for hitting Castellanos in he hip.

Per ESPN, Castellanos compared Uceta's actions to those of his child, saying: "You're frustrated and you're going to throw at somebody. That's like my 2-year-old throwing a fit because I took away his dessert before he was finished."

Castellanos added that he expected to be hit when he stepped up to the plate, saying: "I had an overwhelming sense that I was about to get drilled. We all just got a sense of what it was—he was just [ticked] off that he got hit around and his ERA shot through the roof."

Before Castellanos stepped to the plate in the eighth inning, Uceta surrendered a go-ahead, two-run double to Cal Stevenson, a Buddy Kennedy RBI single, a Trea Turner two-run home run and Bryce Harper's fourth hit and third double of the night.

Uceta said after the game that he didn't mean to hit Castellanos and did so with a changeup, but MLB's StatCast showed he hit Castellanos with a 96 mph sinker, per ESPN.

Harper was clearly upset after Castellanos was hit and approached the mound, but cooler heads ultimately prevailed.

The slugger explained his reaction to the HBP after the game, saying:

"That's not the game that we play, man. It shouldn't be. Guys throw too hard nowadays. You're getting mad because a guy hits a homer off you or you blow the lead, walk the guy and come out of the game.

"The situation, the whole thing, just really fired me up, really upset me. Just not something you should accept as Major League Baseball."

It is possible frustration boiled over for Uceta since the 2024 season has largely been a struggle for a Rays team that entered the year having made five consecutive playoff appearances.

After Tuesday's loss, the Rays are just 71-74 on the season, placing them in fourth place in the American League East.

In addition to being 12 games behind the New York Yankees for the AL East lead, the Rays trail the Minnesota Twins by six games for the final wild-card spot.

As for the Phillies, the win improved their record to 87-58, giving them an eight-game lead over the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets in the NL East, and a one-game over the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the NL.

Given what happened Tuesday, it is fair to wonder if any bad blood will carry over to the series finale between the Phillies and Rays on Wednesday evening.