Roster selections are coming in for the Wild Card spherical of the MLB postseason. That features a daring selection that the Philadelphia Phillies are reportedly making, to hold three catchers in opposition to the Atlanta Braves.
“Phillies will go together with three catchers nonetheless,” Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported. “They’d a number of accidents in minors that depleted depth.
Most groups solely carry two catchers within the postseason with the plan of utilizing one beginning catcher all through. The backup is in case of harm or if a beginning pitcher prefers working with a backup over the starter. Three catchers isn’t significantly frequent, however it additionally follows what the Phillies have been doing for big parts of the season.
J.T. Realmuto would be the major catcher. Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchán will then act as backups. Nevertheless, they’re each restricted and that makes for a complicated resolution when different gamers could possibly provide extra off the bench as a runner or hitter than they will.
“Marchán is a puzzling addition. He isn’t quick on the bases, and has had a poor season in restricted at-bats (lots of which got here early within the season whereas Realmuto was on the injured checklist). However the Phillies have few different choices, so Marchán will probably keep on the energetic roster,” Charlotte Varnes wrote in The Athletic.
As famous by Varnes and Gelb, accidents restricted the choices to some extent for the Phillies. Nevertheless, if not having sufficient choices off the bench prices them, then this roster selection is an apparent scapegoat.
The Philadelphia Phillies Catchers Have Struggled This Season
A serious cause why it’s regarding that the Phillies are carrying so many catchers within the postseason is that none of them have performed properly this season.
J.T. Realmuto is the first catcher. He entered play on Sunday on an 0-for-34 skid that, to his credit score, he did snap. Nonetheless, for the season, Realmuto hit simply .205 with a .614 OPS. It was his worst offensive season since he was a rookie. Per Baseball Savant, Realmuto is within the twenty ninth percentile in Fielding Run Worth, although he’s nonetheless efficient at throwing runners out.
Garrett Stubbs has proven some positional versatility and has change into the non-public catcher for Aaron Nola. Nevertheless, offensively, he’s not bringing a lot to the plate for the Phillies. In 35 video games this season, he hit .153 with a .368 OPS. He hasn’t hit a house run since 2024. Then, Rafael Marchán is hitting .099 with a .302 OPS this season.
It might be malpractice to play both Stubbs or Marchán within the postseason with out an harm to Realmuto. Neither is providing something as a pinch-hitter and solely Stubbs affords something in any respect as a runner.
Accidents are a Concern for the Phillies
The issue for the Phillies comes right down to an absence of choices. That was exacerbated by dropping Commerce Deadline acquisition Luis Arraez late in September because of a sprained ankle. He’s not going to be on the roster for the Wild Card spherical due to it.
In his place, the Phillies introduced up Otto Kemp. He’ll give them some versatility on protection, however changing Arraez’s manufacturing is a serious query mark that the Phillies are going to want to reply.
“We nonetheless get enchancment day by day, however not sufficient,” Mattingly mentioned about Arraez. “He was going to attempt to hit at the moment and simply wasn’t capable of do it. So, we type of crossed that bridge at the moment.”
Two lesser-known gamers who the Phillies thought of had been Kameron Misner and Steward Berroa. Nevertheless, they each handled their very own accidents, which helped the Phillies determine to roll with three catchers.
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