Shortly after the team’s season came to an end, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski indicated that veteran catcher J.T. Realmuto might see less time behind the plate in 2025 going forward. It wasn’t clear at the time what the specifics of that arrangement might look like, but Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer recently discussed the club’s plans regarding Realmuto in greater detail, relaying that manager Rob Thomson suggested this week that Realmuto’s performance may improve if he receives an extra day off per week during the season.
While Realmuto played just 99 games this season after undergoing knee surgery back in June, he averaged 135 games played per year from 2015 to 2023, excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. While soon-to-be 34 year old has received occasional time at DH and even first base throughout his career, the overwhelming majority of his work has come behind the plate. That means he’s typically sat just once a week throughout his tenure behind the plate, a hefty workload for any backstop. Shifting to a schedule that sees him play something closer to five games per week with an extra day off would still leave Realmuto to play around 115 games per year, a workload comparable to those handled by Yankees rookie Austin Wells and Cubs youngster Miguel Amaya in 2024.
While 115 games per year wouldn’t light up the leaderboards among catchers in terms of volume, it’s worth noting that most catchers who rack up the playing time of a true everyday player see significant time at DH, first base, or another position on the diamond. Salvador Perez, for example, stepped up to the plate for the Royals in 158 games this year but was behind the plate for just 90 of those games. 115 games caught in 2024 would’ve been the eighth highest total in the majors and just 16 games behind Cal Raleigh, who led the league with 131 games caught.
Lauber notes Perez as an example of how scaling back defensive duties behind the dish can help aging catchers remain productive on offense. From 2015 to 2018, Perez hit just .252/.284/.448 (91 wRC+) while serving as the everyday catcher in Kansas City. After injury woes wiped out his 2019 season, Perez began to scale back his time behind the plate and has hit a far more robust .264/.309/.474 (109 wRC+) over the past four seasons. Given that Realmuto is a career 110 wRC+ hitter who has slashed an even more robust .264/.325/.455 (114 wRC+) over the past three seasons, it’s easy to imagine Realmuto’s bat being among the most impactful for his position in the game if he scaled back his catching duties.
With that being said, Lauber notes that the Phillies haven’t approached Realmuto regarding the possibility of more carefully managing his workload in 2025. That’s not the only thing the sides haven’t discussed, either; according to Lauber, the Phillies have yet to approach Realmuto about an extension despite the fact that he’s poised to reach free agency following the 2025 season. With that said, Lauber suggests that an extension could be discussed either later in the offseason or at some point during Spring Training. It was just last winter, after all, that the Phillies slow-played their extension talks with veteran ace Zack Wheeler despite clear interest in a deal from both sides. That deal wound up getting done in early March after months of rumors surrounding the possibility of extension talks.
Lauber speculates that a similar deal to the one Wheeler signed, which guaranteed him just three years at a record AAV, could make sense for both sides if the Phillies and Realmuto do pursue an extension. Catchers are risky long-term investments thanks to the physical toll the position takes on the body, and given that an especially lengthy deal seems somewhat unlikely. Even a three-year extension would guarantee Realmuto a contract through the end of his age-37 season, which would certainly carry some risk for Philadelphia given that 35-year-old Travis d’Arnaud was the only catcher to garner even 300 plate appearances at age-35 or older behind the plate this season. With that being said, next year’s class of free agent catchers figures to be relatively thin and the Phillies internal duo of Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchan inspires little confidence as compared to the veteran, which could convince the club to roll the dice with Realmuto as he ages.
More of regrets for trading o’hoppe away.
I could see that. PCA anyone?
Agreed. Their best catching prospeect, Eduardo Tait, is a few years away, so the goal is to get through 25, 26, maybe 27 to get to Tait.
Guy’s cooked!
Harper needs to play some games in the outfield to give Realmuto some starts at 1b.
Why? 115 games would be 16 more games than he played in 2024?
Outfield.
Castellanos
T Walker
Bohm
If those are the only problems for a team than the Phillies are doing very well
I wouldn’t mind having Casty or bohm on my team personally
I’m pretty sure an OPS+ of 117 is offering above average offensively. Just sayin.
Bohm played with a hand injury the second half of the season. That impacted his numbers
Wow, all of the Mean Girls came out for this comment section!
The Phillies are getting old with Harper and turner and schwarber and realmuto and castellanos and wheeler and Nola getting up there in the 30s
Granted old teams can still do well like the warriors in the nba a few seasons ago but this could be the Phillies last dance at 100 wins
Take the pacifier out of your mouth & realize that people in their 30s are still highly productive
10 youngest rosters last year:
1. Marlins
2. Guardians
3. Nationals
4. Pirates
5. White Sox
6. Twins
7. Rays
8. Tigers
9. Reds
10. A’s
10 oldest rosters:
1. Mets
2. Dodgers
3. Astros
4. Yankees
5. Cards
6. Padres
7. Orioles
8. Jays
9. Phillies
10. Royals
I know which of those lists I’d rather be on.
Which? The 1st list which is generally teams with losing Records….or the 2nd which is primarily filled with playoff teams and WS Hopefulls?
The one that wins.
I don’t know that it necessarily says that much. The orioles core is very young. The average was pushed up primarily by relievers and part timers.
I use to find that more meaningful, but less so now. BR has the RS pitching as #21 at 29.5 years old. But their starting 5 averaged only 27.8. Jansen & Martin push them way older.
Yeah I just look at the core important players ages instead of overall ages
It says the orioles aren’t young despite all of their best players in their early-mid 20s
When the Mets added scherzer and verlander to the same team (on top of ottavino and Quintana) their pitching age went up like 3 years just from a few players
I would agree with this. They desperately need Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford to come up and establish themselves, to give a shot of youth to the lineup. Andrew Painter should be in the rotation shortly as well.
The only concern with Marchan at this point is him staying healthy. … If he’s healthy, he’s absolutely ready to catch 50 games in 2025 and should be above average offensively and defensively. Either way, Phillies need to find out about Marchan and whether he can take the wear and tear THIS season.
Marchan has not been a better offensive option. His history in AAA has been below average, and the small sample size of playing time at the major league level is far from enough to base an opinion on.
I would rather see the Phils ink James McCann as a veteran backup to Realmuto. He would most likely be reasonably priced and at this point is used to being a backup. He will not set the world on fire at the plate but has occasional pop and is respected by the pitching staffs he works with.
He may be able to correct Tajuan Walker having worked with him with the Mets.
That alone may be worth more to the Phillies than someone else.
And a Veteran Backup is more likely to call a Good Game….CERA (Catcher’s ERA) is not something I see listed on many sites. (It can be a tricky stat…if the backup catcher does not catch often or only catches certain pitchers…)
In other Breaking News……=)
And Fisk played until he was 46. Sigh.
At 42, caught 116 games and even stole 7 bases.
Sigh.
But today’s players are better athletes. Sigh.
@whyhayzee
They don’t make ballplayers like they used to. I blame it on the decline of family owned farms and players being greedy just to play a kid’s sport.
Johnny Bench retired at 35. Catching is not easy by any means.
I can see why Realmuto is cutting back, especially as he was one of the more mobile ones in this era.
There have been players who work as hard in the offseason at staying in shape as they do during the season at playing baseball. Today’s athletes just work at baseball twelve months out of the year. You only have so much baseball in your body but you can stay in shape well into your forties. It’s a matter of understanding the human body and being smart about taking care of it. Fisk and Ryan are two examples of long effective careers.
I blame it on Women’s Lib and The Pill
Oh whoops wrong forum.
Catchers like Fisk, Yadier Molina, Ivan Rodriguez, or even Bob Boone were unicorns back then even. Catchers break down due to the demands of the position. Look at Joe Torre, Johnny Bench, Joe Mauer, even Yogi Berra, who all had to move into the field as they aged.
Reading the articles and posts here, I thought the Phillies were trading Realmuto.
They would get nothing for him, same as when they traded away the declining high priced veterans Daulton and Ruiz
They have enough money coming off the books the next 2 off seasons and the willingness to spend to retool quickly around Harper, Turner, Nola etc.
The youth is Andrew painter, Justin Crawford, mick Abel, etc…
The funny part of that theory is that the best free agents are also the same people they are talking about letting go.
The money coming off the books should be compared to the talent coming off the books. Realmuto and Schwarber come off the books, but you have to replace them. So how much of that $42M are you actually going to save?
Only if they have MLB-ready players
from the farm system.
If that is the plan not sure why they brought Stubbs back.
With Taijuan Walker having nothing to do but finish out lost games,, yeah they don’t need Stubbs.
Then they better get a legitimate backup catcher and depth in the minor league level. Stubbs is great for the clubhouse and seems to be the life of the party but it does not translate to winning games. Marchan is not a big league staring catcher. Never should have traded O Hoppe for Synderrgard or Marsh or whatever the heck they got for him.
Whatever they do to improve it has to start with making contact and putting the ball in play. 16 Ks a game won’t get you to the LCS.
Marchan is out of options so they agreed to a split contract with Garrett Stubbs. Like that Stubbs can be shuffled back and forth from AAA to MLB as needed. Almost like having a scout down there, as Stubbs will get a look at the Phillies top pitching prospects. Marchan has been impressive in his stints at the Show, don’t be surprised to see him catching approx half of the Phillies games this year. JT will probably get some reps at 1B this year too.
Realmuto runs well so how about LF. It seems the Phillies have no plan to do anything about the holes in the outfield.
With more playing time, I believe Stubbs will improve. He won the Johnny Bench award in college.
Tom, please tell me that is sarcasm.
His last year in college was 2015
We’ve known that since October though. We’ve known that 2025 is the final season to win a WS with their core.
Remember when Jason Varitek’s game leadership skills were so valued that they carried his limp bat for four years? It will always be a small shame that he retired in the miasma of chicken-and-beer. Not that he was involved; just that it must have felt like the club was moving on because the clubhouse had gone sour.
‘Tek has been a part of every kind of clubhouse. The winners—2004, 2007, of course—but also the 1999 team which felt like it could be the one, and despite falling short they never let us down. Then there were the heartbreakers, most famously in 2003, but also in 2011. He’s been in a clubhouse notorious for 25 players taking 25 cabs.
He played with baseball royalty like Pedro, and the other kind of royalty like Wakefield. He was a mentor to competitors like Lester and Pedroia. He studied as the right hand of Terry Francona, and collaborated with Alex Cora in game planning.
Anyhow, different player, different story. JT making a strategic change to preserve his offense is probably wise for both his career and for the team. I hope it works out for him.
Chicken and beer was never an issue, except for the press. The issue was that, once Beckett got hurt in TO, the rotation was doomed. Buchholz was already out for the season because the dumb-a$$ medical team didn’t recognize a fracture in his neck (“we don’t do MRIs on boo-boos”). Lackey couldn’t raise his arm over his shoulder. Wakefield was 44 at the time and probably should’ve been retired. And Wakefield was our best SP in September.
JT is more than a catcher he is the second half of the pitching strategy partner in a game. As comfortable as a favorite glove itself to certain pitchers.
Realmuto’s already the 27th best catcher, all time, according to JAWs. It’s hard to see a path to the Hall for him at age 34 next season and with just 36.3 bWAR to his credit and obvious decline visible after his peak at age 31—but he’s still a fine catcher with a respectable bat who put up 3 win seasons in 2023 and 2024.
He’d make a valuable DH / backup catcher picking up about 60 games a year behind the plate over the next few seasons and that just might extend his career by a couple of years.
How good is their backup on offense, though? Will they actually have better overall offensive production at Catcher by scaling back Realmuto’s playing time if the backup gives it all back with his increased playing time?
Then there’s also defense to consider, as Realmuto is also pretty good defensively behind the plate.
Realmuto playing five games a week and getting by with a backup once or twice a week is better than Realmuto on the IR and needing a backup for weeks straight.
How is Bohm at shagging fly balls in Left?
He’s not that good every time I bet on the Phillies he either strikes out or hits in to a double play.
It’s the last year of his contract. Get your money’s worth and use him. He calls a good game and the pitchers like him. He doesn’t want to reduce his workload.
When you re=sign him, then negotiate a new role for him. I just don’t see how reducing his workload will help the team.
Then they need a better backup than Stubbs. Guy is a funny dude with a beer in the locker room, but an almost instant out at the plate.
No worse than disabled list regular Marchan