How are the Phillies looking behind the plate up and down the organization?
The 2025 season is upon us. We’ll preview the upcoming year by going around the diamond and look at how the Phillies are stacking up both at the major league level and down on the farm.
Current depth chart (via Fangraphs)
MLB – J.T. Realmuto, Garrett Stubbs
AAA – Rafael Marchan, Paul McIntosh, Payton Henry, Josh Breaux
AA – Caleb Ricketts, Jordan Dissan, Andrick Nava, Jared Thomas
A+ – Ryan Leitch, Kehden Hettiger, Luic Calcito
A – Eduardo Tait, Kodey Shojinaga, Guillermo Rosario
Position battles during spring training
Stubbs vs. Marchan
Who is going to back up Realmuto at the big league level? The odds (and contract details) point to Marchan as the one winning the job, but he’ll likely have to prove his health first.
Important contract details
Realmuto will be a free agent after the season, warranting contract extension talks at a reduced salary. Stubbs has a split contract that allows the team to let him go to the minor leagues if necessary while Marchan is out of options and would need to pass through waivers should the team decide that Stubbs is the better fit as the backup catcher.
Overview
As currently constituted, J.T. Realmuto is the top dog. He will continue to catch the majority of games, even if the manager wishes him to slow down a bit. Realmuto’s season was something of a roller coaster last year with his having some good highs and frustrating lows. It was the kind of season that called for the team to have a solid backup option to help shoulder the load for Realmuto, yet once again Garrett Stubbs was the only one available.
When Realmuto went down to surgery, the team was forced into a tandem of Stubbs and Rafael Marchan. In previous seasons, that might have been a downfall for the team, yet the duo produced well enough to keep the team moving in the right direction. It also created the conversation that the team has to have regarding this season as to who the backup catcher actually is going to be.
That brings us to 2025.
Again, Realmuto is going to be the unquestioned starter and will probably catch somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 games were he to be in charge. However, the team would probably be best suited if that number were dialed down by 7-10 games, which places importance on the backup catcher. As mentioned previously, Stubbs has a split contract, allowing the team to send him to Lehigh Valley to maintain some semblance of catching depth in the organization. That means Marchan will finally have his day at the major league level to prove his ability. The thing is, his injury history has been extensive and should be a pause for a moment. The team isn’t asking him to be perform like a starter, simply hoping he’ll be better than the 63 and 54 wRC+ Stubbs gave them the past two seasons at the plate.
Down on the minor league level, the team looks like they have a gem in Eduardo Tait. Tait has seen his name appear on several top 100 prospect lists this offseason and seeing his profile rise as a result. The only problem for the Phillies is that he’s probably going to see most of his time at Clearwater and Reading this season, still a few years away from being able to matriculate in Philadelphia. The rest of the catchers in the system project as merely backup catchers, at best, though the team acquiring Paul McIntosh along with Jesus Luzardo this offseason doesn’t look like it was merely a case of a team getting a throw in. He’s got some interesting qualities about him.
Overall, the system is thin….but who’s isn’t?
If the team loses Realmuto to an extended period due to injury this season, they will likely be at least alright with Marchan (assuming his own health) taking over for the time. But if Marchan goes down as well, the already thin depth the team has will be tested.
That makes it important for Realmuto to stay healthy for the whole season.
And the best way to keep him healthy is to give him a bit more time off.
And the best way to do that is make sure Rafael Marchan is the backup.