Three-time All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto was placed on the 10-day injured list with right knee pain. The Phillies announced that he’s scheduled to undergo right knee meniscectomy surgery on Wednesday.
Realmuto, 33, is in the midst of another strong two-way season for Philadelphia. In 51 games, Realmuto is slashing .261/.309/.411 with seven home runs and 20 runs batted in. Now, he’ll be out for the foreseeable future.
Realmuto began his career in 2014 with the Miami Marlins. A third-round pick in 2010, Realmuto consistently improved every year, before making his first All-Star team in 2018, his final year with Miami.
Ahead of the 2019 season, Realmuto was traded to the Phillies and made an immediate impact. In 2019, he made his second consecutive All-Star team, won his second consecutive Silver Slugger award, won his first Gold Glove award, and finished top-15 in NL Most Valuable Player award voting.
Realmuto would make another All-Star team in 2021, and finished seventh in NL MVP voting in 2022, the highest of his career.
Realmuto would have competed for another All-Star appearance in 2024, but will now be out of the running as he misses a good chunk of the season.
The Phillies have a solid backup catcher in Garrett Stubbs. The eighth-round draft pick in 2015 was traded to the Phillies in 2021. Across 106 games with the Phillies over the last three seasons, he’s slashing .221/.304/.336 with six home runs and 31 RBIs. He’ll now get a much larger role as an everyday player, while Rafael Marchán, who was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday, will factor in as the backup.
Marchán, 25, has appeared in 23 MLB games across the 2020 and 2021 seasons. In those games, he slashed .267/.323/.417 with an impressive OPS of .740.
In Triple-A this season, Marchán slashed .219/.350/.344 across nine games. He’s now being thrust into an important backup catcher role on the best team in the NL.
The Phillies have fortunately built a comfortable lead in the NL East over the Atlanta Braves. Entering Tuesday, the Phillies are 45-20, nine games ahead of the Braves in the division.
However, they’ll now be without one of their most important players for what could be a couple months. Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout, who underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in the beginning of May, remains nowhere near a return to action.
