Welington Castillo ate Beef Wellington for the first time, because why not?
Any food fan is immediately reminded of Beef Wellington any time they think about Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Welington Castillo. It’s an easy connection to make, even though the words are spelled differently.
[ELSEWHERE: Yep, the Mets are back in sole possession of first place.]
Well, after a strong three game stretch in which Castillo hit four home runs, D-Back fans started using the hashtag #BeefMode on Twitter to describe Welington’s heroics.
Castillo approved of his new nickname, but admitted he had never eaten Beef Wellington, and knew nothing about the dish.
That changed Tuesday, as FOX Sports Arizona decided the player ought to at least sample the meal.
Since Castillo was curious about the meal, Fox Sports Arizona decided to provide him with some background.
The Stew reached out to Fox Sports Arizona Producer Brian Henry in order to figure out how this whole ordeal came about. Once they heard Castillo had not tried the dish, they worked to set the whole thing up.
“My reporter, Jody Jackson, and I reached out to Smith & Wollensky’s restaurant here in D.C., and they said they’d love to be a part of it. So, last night after the game, we asked him if would be up for getting to the park early and trying Beef Wellington, and he said ‘sure.'”
The next day, the kitchen staff prepared a 22-ounce Beef Wellington for Castillo.
With Castillo on fire at the moment, now was the perfect time to run the story, Henry said.
“[The #BeefMode hashtag] has really exploded on this road trip because of how well he’s been hitting, specifically home runs. That’s really what motivated us to do it now.”
It also helped that Castillo hit another home run during Monday’s game. Once he did that, Henry and Jackson had to “make it happen” even with the team on the road.
The experiment turned out to be a success. Castillo enjoyed the meal, and even shared it with some of his teammates.
There you have it. We now have the answer to one of life’s most important questions. Does Welington Castillo enjoy Beef Wellington? Yes. Yes he does.
[On last week’s StewPod: Go behind the scenes of the trade deadline with an ex-GM.]
Next up, we want to know if Jake Lamb likes lamb or if A.J. Pollock eats pollock. Get on that, Fox Sports Arizona.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
