97.1 The Ticket -- Former Tigers outfielder took to the field at Busch Stadium in St. Louis Thursday night for his Cubs debut, sporting the No. 6 jersey.
While he wore No. 9 in Detroit, that number is already taken by Chicago's Javy Baez. So why not pay a little tribute to his son, who was a little bummed he didn't get to go to Six Flags on his birthday, as they had planned with the Tigers' off-day before a weekend series with Texas.
"We didn't exactly get to go to Six Flags, but daddy got traded and everybody else was excited," Castellanos told reporters. "I think because everybody else was excited, he was excited and now he's here in St. Louis. I think it's pretty cool that's another reason why I'm wearing No. 6. I'm debuting with the Cubs on his sixth birthday."
Castellanos also said he chose his new number to pay respect to one of his biggest role models, Tigers legend Al Kaline, who sported the No. 6 during his famed career. Kaline has spent a lot of time around the Tigers clubhouse over the years and served as a mentor to Castellanos.
New Cub Nicholas Castellanos is wearing #6 for 2 awesome reasons—today is his son’s 6th birthday & one of his heroes is HOF’er Al Kaline.
— Len Kasper (@LenKasper)
August 1, 2019 Though the Cardinals took it to the Cubs on Thursday, beating them 8-0 to re-take sole possession of first place in the NL Central, Castellanos did break up a no-hit bid from Jack Flaherty earlier in the night for his first hit as a Cub, which turned out to be Chicago's only hit of the night.
Good call, @LenKasper! ------ pic.twitter.com/H2U9PPsNZ9
— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs)
August 2, 2019 Castellanos started in right field and batted second for the Cubs, finishing 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
