The Phillies and catcher Payton Henry agreed to a minor league contract earlier this month, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Henry confirmed the deal on social media.
Henry, 27, appeared in the majors with the Marlins between 2021-22. He suited up in 20 games, hitting .186 with one extra-base hit (a double) through 51 trips to the plate. The former sixth-round draftee has spent the past two seasons in Triple-A. He played 2023 in the Milwaukee system and spent this year with the Toronto organization.
The righty-hitting Henry was limited to 27 games with Triple-A Buffalo this past season. He was injured in a frightening play on May 31. Henry was catching when an opposing hitter accidentally struck him on the head with a backswing. Henry was removed on a cart and transported to a Syracuse, New York, hospital. The game was cancelled at that point. Fortunately, Henry was released the following day.
After a three-month stay on the injured list, he returned to action with the Bisons in the middle of September. He played in three games to finish the season. While he didn’t have time to put himself in position for an MLB call, getting back on the field checks a significant box going into Spring Training.
Henry is likely to open next season in Triple-A, where he’s now a career .266/.332/.414 hitter. Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchán are each on the 40-man roster and potential backups behind J.T. Realmuto. They’ll remain ahead of Henry and Paul McIntosh, whom the Phils acquired over the weekend in the Jesús Luzardo trade, on the depth chart.
DD just making moves left and right!
Never got a chance with my Brew crew. Good luck!
It looks like Philly is Payton’s Place!
But not Cincinnati, they just released outfielder Peyton Burdick.
Gonna be a dogfight for backup.
I thought it was Henry Payton.
AAA backup fight….He is not really in the fight for the MLB backup job. That will be between Stubbs and Marchan with Marchan likely at AAA assuming he has options left. The Phils will likely need to have multiple catchers get injured for him to have a shot at the MLB backup..
Marchan is out of options which is why Stubbs is on split major/minor contract now.
Thanks.! I was trying to lookup Marchan’s option status and could not find it.
Rafael Marchán
121 PA 120 OPS+
Positive defender
What does he have to do to get the backup job?
He just has to stay healthy.
Produce in AAA. Realmuto is a free agent after next season so there may be a starting job behind the plate available in ’26
Hit better than .229 in AAA at Lehigh Valley like he did this season. And people want to think he is so much better than Stubbs, lol
Nice pickup!
How about Jurickson Profar on a 2/$30M type deal with maybe 3rd year option/buyout. He plays LF & 2B, two positions where Topper likes to give the starters a day off vs. LHP. What a tremendous bench that would be, Sosa covers left side of INF, Profar covers the right side and LF – giving one of Kepler, Marsh or even Harper a day off vs a lefty. Castellanos is not going to play 162 games again, Kepler will play some RF and open up AB’s for Profar. Kody Clemens is out of options and there were a lot of teams in need of a corner INF/left handed INF bench bat. I’d rather see them spend the money than have Kody take up a bench spot with no obvious role. Maybe they could flip him with a lottery ticket for a BP arm. Mariners, Cardinals, Guardians most obvious fits.