Luis Castillo received a release for the second time in two weeks.

“We wanted to give him an opportunity to be a contributor on our club,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “He was extremely professional about his business, well liked in the clubhouse. We liked everything about him except we felt like, with the personnel we have here, we’re comfortable keeping what we have here moving forward. We decided to let him know that he’s been released.”

The move leaves Wilson Valdez as the likely starter while Utley is out. It also means Rule 5 pick Michael Martinez has an excellent chance to make the team, along with either Pete Orr or Delwyn Young.

It took the Phillies a lot less time to reach this conclusion than the Mets, but of course, Philadelphia was not on the hook for millions of dollars.