SAN DIEGO — Barely three months ago, Nick Castellanos was still a Philadelphia Phillie. All offseason, speculation reigned that Castellanos would be dealt or offloaded by the Phillies. But as camp approached — and no transaction came — Castellanos prepared himself to report to Clearwater, Fla.

On Monday, ahead of the first meeting between the two NL contenders this season, Castellanos addressed his time with the Phillies — looking back on it fondly, regardless of the way it ended.

“It is what it is — I don’t have no hard feelings for it,” Castellanos said. “They’re an organization that’s doing what they feel like is necessary for them to win, and they’re making decisions. And that led me to San Diego. I’m enjoying myself and getting to be teammates with new guys. Everything happens for a reason.”

Castellanos has since found a new home — and a new role — in San Diego. He began the season as a lightly used bench piece, but he has evolved into a semi-regular starter in right field. On the whole, he has struggled, posting a .190 average with a .577 OPS. But lately, as his playing time has increased, he’s begun to hit a bit more, too.

Castellanos was in the starting lineup, batting sixth for the opener of a three-game series at Petco Park. He spent pregame chatting with his teammates and met with a group of reporters, where he was asked to recall his time in Philadelphia.

“Great, man, there was a lot of winning,” Castellanos said. “Obviously we fell short of winning the World Series, which is the ultimate goal. But, I mean, four straight trips into the postseason, deep into the postseason, a lot of memorable moments, a lot of sad moments. But it’s going to be a part of my life that I remember forever.”

Castellanos says that’s true no matter how it ended. And was the ending ever messy.

Reports surfaced that Castellanos’ relationship with the team and some teammates had soured. In one of those reports, details came to light that Castellanos brought a beer into the dugout during a game last June in response to his frustration at being removed by manager Rob Thomson for defensive purposes.

The irony, of course, is that Castellanos is now regularly removed for defensive purposes in San Diego. But he’s embraced the role of part-time bench piece that he was seemingly reluctant to embrace in Philadelphia.

“Communication for sure,” said Castellanos.

“You can fill in the blanks on that,” was all Castellanos would say.

Castellanos penned a letter at the time of his release addressing the incident with the beer and some of the hangups with the communication during his time in Philadelphia. In that letter, he vowed to learn from the situation. On Monday, he said he has.

“I just had a lot of pent up emotion and frustration that all came out pretty colorfully in the moment,” Castellanos said. “Obviously not ideal. But everything that I said was 100% genuine. How did I learn from it? If I feel something that upsets me or doesn’t sit right, I’m doing better at just saying it immediately then. Things are always easier to handle one step at a time.”

Castellanos went out of his way to praise the Padres for their frank communication style. Of course, since Castellanos’ release, the Phillies have parted ways with Thomson, promoting Don Mattingly into the manager’s chair. Castellanos was asked about that move.

“The decision is not mine to make,” he said. “But when they put Don into the manager seat, my thought was: right man, right spot.”

Castellanos added: “Don is doing a great job. They seem to have been playing well since he was put into his position. Which, rightfully so, they’re one of the most talented teams in all of baseball.”

Nonetheless, Castellanos did his best to keep the focus on his current situation, amid questions about the end of his tenure in Philadelphia.

“What am I going to sit here and start thinking about a bunch of stuff and be playing judge and jury?” Castellanos said when asked about the way the Phillies handled his release. “I could do that. But that’s not going to help anybody or make any situation better. They handled it the way that they handled it.

“Obviously it led to me being in a tough spot at the end, not really knowing what was up. But at the end of the day, I’m here. I’m in this clubhouse. This staff is great. They’ve really embraced me. I feel like the players have really embraced me.”