The Good Phight will be previewing the 2026 season by going over each position on the field. We’ll talk about the players that will occupy them, the players behind them, their strengths and weaknesses and give a few takes about how we think the season will shake out.
One of the more controversial roster decisions in a while was made this offseason when the Phillies decided that they were going to bring back J.T. Realmuto. While the temptation to say “they needed to move on” is tempting, the options
that were available to them on the free agent market were, let’s call it, less than appealing. They would have made due had a few free agent decisions been different, but here we are in 2026 and we still have Realmuto here.
Should we expect anything to change?
The starter: J.T. Realmuto
Yup, back for another go’round. Signed to a three-year deal this offseason after losing out on Bo Bichette, Realmuto returns to the Phillies hoping to pull a Cher. Disappointing from both an offensive and defensive viewpoint in 2025, the team is hoping that Realmuto can stare down Father Time a few years longer while they try and find some kind of long term solution in their player development system.
The backups: Rafael Marchan
There has been hope for some time that Marchan might be able to hit juuuuuust enough to maybe unseat Realmuto as the starter and/or take some of his playing time. However, when we look at the games played totals for both, there’s Realmuto with 132 games as a catcher in 2026 while Marchan came in at 42 (math doesn’t work, but Realmuto came in plenty as a pinch hitter and stayed in the game).
It seems that no matter what, Marchan just will not unseat Realmuto any time soon. So, he’ll have to be content with continuing to be a good caddie for him. Besides, he’s probably not a starter anyway.
The depth: Garrett Stubbs, Mark Kolozsvary, Paul McIntosh
To those that wonder why Stubbs keeps getting minor league deals with a significant minor league guarantee attached, I present to you the team’s depth.
It’s pretty funny to look around at other teams in the league and see who has/doesn’t have catching depth. The Cardinals are probably the outlier as they have about five catchers that are legitimate options at the major league level, but many others are in the bind the Phillies are. They need someone in case of injury, particularly when your starter is entering his age 35 season. Stubbs can do that job for a few weeks, but if there is a real injury to Realmuto and the Phillies are forced to start Marchan and Stubbs for an extended period, there might be trouble.
Strengths: the starting rotation loves ‘em!
We can’t really put a number on the love that the starting rotation has for Realmuto. Even Marchan was getting some love from the pitchers with his preparation prior to games. It’s something that we cannot quantify yet, how good pitchers feel with certain catchers behind the dish for their starts. We can look at rudimentary stats like catcher’s ERA to have some kind of idea, but how much of that belongs to the pitcher and his talent level, and how much goes to the catcher’s ability to call and receive games?
However, with a team that has its foundation poured in its rotation, maybe keeping Realmuto around a while longer is the wise move when considering some of the alternatives that they actually had (Adley Rutschman was not getting traded, folks).
Weaknesses: how will Realmuto’s bat and glove fare another year older?
If there was a statistic that could be used to tell a part of Realmuto’s game last season, he was worse in it than he was in 2024. Everything from the back of the baseball card stats to the ones that are more obscure, under the hood types. He just was not good last year….which makes me wonder.
Was it a blip on his career radar or the new norm?
The skeptic in us believes this is it, the decline phase manifested. Aging curves that have historically shown catchers decline quickly seems to be coming true for Realmuto. Yet there is still a tinge of me that believes he still can get back to at least an average catcher behind the plate and at it. Is that a point of view taken with the rosiest colored glasses known to man? It’s possible, likely even. It’s also probably one of the bigger questions facing the team this year.
Hottest take: J.T. Realmuto makes the All-Star game
Here come those rose colored glasses again.
Listen, there are better options at National League catcher. There is one in Los Angeles, one in Colorado that might be their lone representative, and that’s just the top of my head. Yet with a decent start to his season, it’s easy to think fans would vote for Realmuto, mainly thanks to name value alone. What might that decent start have to constitute?
I have no idea!
Does it mean at least double digit home runs and a batting average that makes even your favorite uncle nod in agreement? Probably. But Realmuto’s reputation around the league is probably such that if he is off to a good start, the players might send him to Philadelphia this July.
Realistic take: it doesn’t look great on paper, but the catching duo is perfectly fine
Listen, we all succumb to Father Time at some point. When that happens usually depends on how well we take care of ourselves. Realmuto still takes quite good care of himself, but his production is not enough that he should be dictating how much playing time he gets in June, July and August. It is finally the year that Thomson tells Realmuto he’s getting games off during the week and that Marchan is going to play more often. We’ve been saying it for some time, but we have reached the point where, for the good of the player and the team, it needs to be done.
Should that happen, there is a path where the cumulative production they put up (and anyone else should an injury occur) is good enough to be at least average when compared to catching across the game. Will they hit 20+ home runs? No. Will they hit .250? Probably not. But the defensive value, both what we can and cannot quantify, will probably add to whatever offensive output they have to give them one of the better catching tandems in the game.
