Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos has never shied away from showcasing his personality to baseball fans throughout his MLB career.
Following the 2024 season, Los Angeles Dodgers star slugger Shohei Ohtani was named the National League MVP, but Castellanos had a different player in mind for the prestigious award. During a recent podcast appearance with Jomboy Media's Chris Rose, Castellanos revealed he thought that New York Mets utility infielder Jose Iglesias should've received the NL MVP Award rather than Ohtani.
Nick Castellanos says Jose Iglesias should’ve won NL MVP pic.twitter.com/gxRVbSWoO7
— Chris Rose Sports (@ChrisRoseSports) January 13, 2025
Iglesias had a solid campaign in 2024 and even released a song called "OMG" that became the Mets' anthem throughout the year.
"If you're looking at the MVP as having the most weight on creating wins for your team, there's no other player that has had that much weight as Jose Iglesias," Castellanos said.
"I think with him being able to come in and bring that Latin spark, (it) knocked the ice off (Francisco) Lindor, finally got (Mark) Vientos comfortable (to be) an everyday third baseman, and now a bunch of guys that looked like they had no direction... they made the playoffs, got to where they did, while the whole Mets organization had the OMG signs."
Iglesias produced a .337 batting average with four home runs and 26 RBIs in 85 games with the Mets. Considering Iglesias only appeared in half of the season's games, it's hard to take Castellanos' recommendation too seriously.
Meanwhile, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to tally 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season en route to leading the Dodgers to a World Series title.
