Roster decisions are coming in for the Wild Card round of the MLB postseason. That includes a bold choice that the Philadelphia Phillies are reportedly making, to carry three catchers against the Atlanta Braves.
“Phillies will go with three catchers still,” Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported. “They had several injuries in minors that depleted depth.
Most teams only carry two catchers in the postseason with the plan of using one starting catcher throughout. The backup is in case of injury or if a starting pitcher prefers working with a backup over the starter. Three catchers isn’t particularly common, but it also follows what the Phillies have been doing for large portions of the season.
J.T. Realmuto will be the primary catcher. Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchán will then act as backups. However, they’re both limited and that makes for a confusing decision when other players may be able to offer more off the bench as a runner or hitter than they can.
“Marchán is a puzzling addition. He is not fast on the bases, and has had a poor season in limited at-bats (many of which came early in the season while Realmuto was on the injured list). But the Phillies have few other options, so Marchán will likely stay on the active roster,” Charlotte Varnes wrote in The Athletic.
As noted by Varnes and Gelb, injuries limited the options to some extent for the Phillies. However, if not having enough options off the bench costs them, then this roster choice is an obvious scapegoat.
The Philadelphia Phillies Catchers Have Struggled This Season
A major reason why it’s concerning that the Phillies are carrying so many catchers in the postseason is that none of them have played well this season.
J.T. Realmuto is the primary catcher. He entered play on Sunday on an 0-for-34 skid that, to his credit, he did snap. Still, for the season, Realmuto hit just .205 with a .614 OPS. It was his worst offensive season since he was a rookie. Per Baseball Savant, Realmuto is in the 29th percentile in Fielding Run Value, though he is still effective at throwing runners out.
Garrett Stubbs has shown some positional versatility and has become the personal catcher for Aaron Nola. However, offensively, he’s not bringing much to the plate for the Phillies. In 35 games this season, he hit .153 with a .368 OPS. He hasn’t hit a home run since 2024. Then, Rafael Marchán is hitting .099 with a .302 OPS this season.
It would be malpractice to play either Stubbs or Marchán in the postseason without an injury to Realmuto. Neither is offering anything as a pinch-hitter and only Stubbs offers anything at all as a runner.
Injuries are a Concern for the Phillies
The problem for the Phillies comes down to a lack of options. That was exacerbated by losing Trade Deadline acquisition Luis Arraez late in September due to a sprained ankle. He’s not going to be on the roster for the Wild Card round because of it.
In his place, the Phillies brought up Otto Kemp. He will give them some versatility on defense, but replacing Arraez’s production is a major question mark that the Phillies are going to need to answer.
“We still get improvement every day, but not enough,” Mattingly said about Arraez. “He was going to try to hit today and just wasn’t able to do it. So, we kind of crossed that bridge today.”
Two lesser-known players who the Phillies considered were Kameron Misner and Steward Berroa. However, they both dealt with their own injuries, which helped the Phillies decide to roll with three catchers.
Phillies Make Potentially Costly Roster Decision for Wild Card Round vs. Braves