Believe it or not, but spring training is approaching fast. The Phillies have yet to officially announce when their pitchers and catchers will report to Clearwater, but it’s a safe bet that it will be somewhere
around February 11th to 15th, as their first game action will take place on February 21st.
But there’s one snag in the plan- the Phillies do not currently have a starting catcher.
J.T. Realmuto is still a free agent, and it appears Realmuto and the Phillies are still at a standstill according to Matt Gelb’s latest update in the Athletic.
“The prevailing sentiment is that the Phillies and Realmuto will find common ground again. He needs them. They need him. There is no single sticking point, according to major-league sources familiar with the talks. Realmuto wants more than the Phillies have offered; the club is believed to have discussed various multi-year scenarios with the catcher. As one of the more decorated catchers in the sport, Realmuto commands a level of respect, but the Phillies are again uncertain about what Realmuto’s market looks like.
Not much has changed since the holidays.
The Phillies have explored contingencies because pitchers and catchers report to Florida in five weeks. It would be ideal to have a starting catcher report. The Phillies have talked trades for catchers, young and old; Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers is one potential target, league sources told The Athletic. But the closer everyone gets to camps opening, the more reluctant teams are to trade away a catcher. Victor Caratini, who has never started more than 87 games in a season at catcher, is still on the free-agent market and could wait until Realmuto decides to pick his own destination.“- Matt Gelb in the Athletic
Until Realmuto’s status is known, no one can say with any certainty who will be in camp catching the majority of bullpens from the Phillies pitchers. As Gelb notes, it would behoove the team to have that settled before the complex in Clearwater comes to life, so it remains a safe bet to believe that they will work something out with Realmuto before spring training gets into full swing. However, the recent Bo Bichette meeting and rumors surrounding it have cast doubt on that assertion. If Bichette winds up a Phillie, it will almost certainly mean that Realmuto will be elsewhere. If that were to happen, Rafael Marchán and Garrett Stubbs would be the only catching options currently on the MLB roster.
Marchán was Realmuto’s backup last season and did not particularly stand out albeit in limited playing time. He hit just .210 with a .587 OPS in the most MLB playing time of his career as he appeared in 42 games. Stubbs meanwhile spent almost all of 2025 in Triple-A and is now out of minor league options, meaning he would have to be passed through waivers if the Phillies wanted to send him back to Lehigh Valley.
There are a handful of catching options on the free agent market, but none are very encouraging. In the event the Phillies sign Bichette, they would likely be not willing to spend much more on a catcher, so they would have to go bargain shopping in an already weak market. The trade market is an option, but as Gelb mentions in the above excerpt, teams will be less willing to deal their starting catcher the closer we get to spring training.
So, who will be the Phillies’ starting catcher when pitchers and catchers report? Will the team eventually reach an agreement with Realmuto? Or will Bichette force them to look elsewhere? What happens if the Phillies miss out on both Realmuto and Bichette? Do you think they would go into the season with only Marchán and Stubbs?
