The games haven’t started yet, but there are already some common narratives around the upcoming Phillies vs. Dodgers series. Everyone is talking about how the Phillies rotation has to matchup against the Dodgers star power
led by Shohei Ohtani and how will L.A. navigate through the series with their incredibly shaky bullpen. It’s arguably two of the biggest storylines for the series with others including how will Philadelphia look after the bye and what is the Phillies plan for when and how to use Jhoan Duran.
But as is so often the case in October, sometimes a hero or a villain can come from an unexpected place, or a secondary storyline could become the focus. Here, we’re going to discuss two players that are flying under the radar a bit but nevertheless could have a huge impact on how this series plays out. First, we’ll start with an x-factor for the Dodgers before detailing one for the Phillies.
Will Smith
It’s hard to believe that a player of Smith’s caliber can be overshadowed, but such is the nature of playing on the star-studded Dodgers. Smith is arguably the best catcher in baseball, totaling 12.1 WAR over the last three seasons while logging an .813 OPS. The backstop had a career year in 2025, compiling 4.5 WAR while hitting .296 with a .901 OPS and 17 home runs in 110 games played.
But Smith’s status for the Wild Card series was in question, as he suffered a hairline fracture in his right hand after being hit by a foul tip on September 3rd. He played in one more game before heading to the 10-day IL on September 13th, missing the Phillies series in Los Angeles from the 15th-17th. It was very much in question if Smith would make the Dodgers initial postseason roster, but it was determined that he made enough progress in his recovery that he was activated from the IL on September 29th and added to the Wild Card roster.
The plan was to restrict Smith to only pinch hitting, but the Dodgers never needed to call on his services as they easily rolled over the 83-win Reds to punch their ticket to the NLDS. Smith will almost certainly make the NLDS roster, but it’s not a given that he will be able to start or if he can, how effective he will be. Ben Rortvedt started at catcher in Smith’s place in the two games against the Reds and went 3-6 with a double and an RBI to go with two strikeouts.
Smith is a big piece of the Dodgers lineup, as he has primarily hit third or fourth in their lineup this year. They are still plenty dangerous without him, but his absence is obviously a big one. That is despite paltry career numbers in the postseason, as Smith has slashed .200/.283/.371 across 57 career games in October. Smith does have good numbers against the Phillies for his career though with an .830 OPS and 4 home runs in 26 games. One less difficult out to navigate in a Dodgers lineup full of them would benefit the Phillies.
Nick Castellanos
Castellanos’ season has been well documented, but to sum it up, he’s gone from being an everyday right fielder that hit in the middle of the Phillies order to a platoon hitter/bench bat. He had a respectable first half of the season, hitting .273 with a .751 OPS and 12 home runs before the All-Star break. But Castellanos cratered in July and August, hitting just .193 with a .553 OPS while grading out as one of the worst defenders in the Majors.
That finally led to Castellanos losing his starting job in September, but ever since then, he’s actually found some success. He has seemingly settled into his role as a part-time player and has even delivered some of his best-at bats of the season off of the bench in key spots. He’s appeared as a pinch hitter four times this season and is 1-4 but has driven in two runs.
It’s unlikely that Castellanos would start Game 1 of the NLDS, as a right hander in Shohei Ohtani is on the mound. But he will likely be called upon at some point to pinch hit for either Max Kepler or Brandon Marsh against a lefty. Castellanos has had tremendous success in the Divisional round as a Phillie, hitting .395 with 5 home runs and 12 RBIs in 12 games. He was almost directly responsible for their only win in the DS last season, hitting a game-tying home run in the sixth and a walk-off RBI single in the ninth in Game 2.
Castellanos may not be a regular starter anymore, but that doesn’t mean he can’t leave his mark on this series. The Dodgers figure to start a lefty in Blake Snell at least once this series, and they have three left-handers in Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia, and Justin Wrobleski in the bullpen. Castellanos is 2-6 off of Scott in his career including the postseason with a pair of singles and he’s 2-4 off of Vesia with a grand slam. On the other hand, he’s 2-21 against Snell, but 1-2 in the postseason. Castellanos will have chances to erase the memories of his poor season with October heroics if he is able to capitalize on the limited opportunities he’s given. It wouldn’t be the first time a pinch hitter helped the Phillies overcome the Dodgers.
