Saturday, August 02

Welcome back to the latest edition of the Phillies Beat newsletter! Paul Casella is filling in for Todd Zolecki on this edition.

PHILADELPHIA -- It’s no secret that J.T. Realmuto’s value to the Phillies extends well beyond what he does with his bat -- or even what he does behind the plate with his arm.

Sure, the Phillies would love for Realmuto to remain in the conversation for being the best all-around catcher in the game, not to mention the most prolific defensive catcher when it comes to throwing out runners.

But they also understand just how integral he is to a rotation that leads the Majors with 346 strikeouts and ranks fourth with a 3.15 ERA.

At the same time, Realmuto is hitting just .228 with a .676 OPS this season. Each of those numbers would easily be a career low for any full season. His 25.9% strikeout rate would also be the highest of his career.

That’s why on Tuesday night, Realmuto hit eighth in the Phillies’ lineup -- the lowest he’s hit in more than three years. It was only the third time in his seven seasons with the club that he hit lower than seventh, and it was the first since May 21, 2022. For some added perspective, Realmuto was hitting behind Jean Segura and Odúbel Herrera on that night, with Rhys Hoskins in the leadoff spot.

"J.T. is trying a bunch of different stuff,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He's working hard to maybe limit his leg kick a little bit, but more just get the timing better. So, I just wanted to take a little pressure off him and put him down [in the order] a little a bit."

Realmuto has remained committed to his leg kick over the years, and that didn’t change in Tuesday’s opener against the Braves. He went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts, though he did draw a bases-loaded walk to plate a key insurance run in the eighth inning. He also ripped a 106.2 mph liner off Spencer Strider that had a .680 expected batting average, but Ronald Acuña Jr. tracked it down.

The most intriguing part of Realmuto’s struggles, though, is that they’re coming primarily against left-handed pitchers.

Realmuto is hitting .096 (5-for-52) with a .280 OPS against southpaws. Meanwhile, he's hitting .286 with a .479 slugging percentage and an .845 OPS against righties -- all of which are above his career averages.

Weird, right?

"It is. It really is,” Thomson said. “They were doing a lot of right-handed work, but now they're going with some more left-handed work in his drill work. So, hopefully that will pay off."

Given how bizarre those splits are against lefties, the Phillies are hoping those numbers regulate a bit more as the sample size grows.

They’re willing to give him some time at the bottom of the order to do so, but one thing the club is unlikely to do is give Realmuto any extended time off. Thomson and the organization were adamant this past offseason and into Spring Training that they would find more ways to keep Realmuto fresh than in past years.

Realmuto started 130 games behind the plate in both 2022 and ’23 before injuries limited him to 99 last season. He is on pace to start a career-high 132 games behind the plate this season.

But while it may not appear the Phillies are following through with that plan on the surface, let’s dig a little deeper.

Realmuto hasn't caught four days in a row since April 19 -- and he’s caught four or more consecutive days just twice this season. He had caught at least four consecutive days eight separate times by this point last season.

"I think we have been getting him pretty good rest,” Thomson said. “There hasn't been too many times where he's gone four in a row.”

That remains the plan moving forward: Maximize Realmuto’s starts, while capitalizing on team off-days to avoid long stretches.

"He's got to play through it, because he's so important behind the plate to us with the pitching staff,” Thomson said. “Not that [Rafael] Marchán doesn't do a great job as well, but J.T., he's the captain out there. He's the backbone, the guy who everybody looks to. So, I want him out there as much as he can."

Even if the offense doesn’t come around?

“We all know what type of player J.T. is and the type of game that he calls,” Ranger Suárez said via a team interpreter. “Even when he's not doing well at the plate -- he can be like 0-for-4 or 0-for-5 -- and still call the best game and still do his job. That's something that shows you what type of player he is and how important he is behind the plate."

Since joining the Phillies in 2019, Realmuto leads all MLB catchers with 5,940 innings behind the plate. Who has caught the second-most innings in the Majors during that span, albeit at a distant 5,003 innings?

A. Will Smith
B. Willson Contreras
C. Christian Vázquez 
D. Martín Maldonado 

With the Phillies returning home Tuesday for the first time since Kyle Schwarber joined the 300-homer club last week in Colorado, the club recognized the slugger’s milestone prior to the game.

Schwarber came to the top step of the first-base dugout to tip his cap and wave to the crowd -- but the home fans weren’t the only ones showing their appreciation.

Teammates Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh stood in the dugout holding a cardboard sign with “SCHWARBOMB” written in Sharpie.

Any chance the duo made it themselves?

“I’m not that artistic,” quipped Marsh, who deferred credit to the clubhouse attendants.

A. Will Smith

While Realmuto is just 60 innings shy of reaching the 6,000-inning mark in a Phillies uniform, Smith is the only other catcher to handle more than 5,000 innings behind the plate since 2019. He’s followed by Vázquez (4,919 2/3) and Maldonado (4,799 1/3).

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