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JT Realmuto
7th January 2025 • I-95 Rundown • Hopewell Valley Student Publications Network
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Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting Network 

Show Name:  I-95 Rundown

Episode Title:  The Phillies


You are listening to I-95 Rundown  with your host Charlie Mott


In this episode of I-95 Rundown  we discuss:The Phillies.


Segment 1: Early Career

  • Although he primarily served as the team's shortstop, Realmuto would occasionally catch for Carl Albert when their starting catcher was asked to pitch.
  • Steve Taylor, a scout for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB), attended a game where Realmuto was catching and told the player that he was more likely to play in MLB as a catcher than as a shortstop.
  • The Marlins went on to select Realmuto in the third round, 104th overall, of the 2010 MLB Draft.
  • attended a game where Realmuto was catching and told the player that he was more likely to play in MLB as a catcher than as a shortstop.
  • The Marlins went on to select Realmuto in the third round, 104th overall, of the 2010 MLB Draft.
  • Although he had previously committed to play college baseball at Oklahoma State on an athletic scholarship, Realmuto chose to accept the Marlins' offer, which included a $700,000 signing bonus.
  • He was assigned to the GCL Marlins of the Rookie Gulf Coast League, where he batted .175 in 40 at-bats, including two runs and four RBIs.
  • Prior to the 2011 season, Marlins farm director Jim Fleming and scouting director Stan Meek pushed Andy Haines, then the manager of the Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers, to promote Realmuto to the team.
  • He spent spring training working with Marlins catching instructor Tim Cossins and was assigned to the Grasshoppers to start the season.
  • Realmuto split time behind the plate with Wilfredo Gimenez, and when he was not catching, he would appear as a designated hitter.
  • He excelled both offensively and defensively in his 96 games with Greensboro; in addition to batting .287 with 12 home runs and 49 RBIs, Realmuto successfully picked off 42 percent of attempted base stealers.
  •  Realmuto also helped take the Grasshoppers to a South Atlantic League championship title, recording a critical RBI in the final round against the Savannah Sand Gnats.
  • The following season, both Realmuto and Haines were promoted to the Class A-Advanced Jupiter Hammerheads of the Florida State League.
  • There, Realmuto was paired with up-and-coming pitcher José Fernández, a partnership that the Marlins envisioned would form the backbone of their future major league roster.
  • Realmuto was one of three Hammerheads named to the 2012 Florida State League All-Star Game, alongside outfielders Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna.



Segment 2:  Rise to the majors

  • Realmuto received his first major league call-up on June 1, 2014, when Saltalamacchia was placed on the 7-day disabled list with a concussion.
  •  Marlins manager Mike Redmond told reporters that Realmuto was "the guy who, in the short term, we think [...] can come up and do a good job".
  • Realmuto made his major league debut on June 5, recording three RBIs against Jake Odorizzi in an 11–6 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays.
  • He was sent back down to Jacksonville after only seven games, in which he had collected one run and five RBIs.
  • Realmuto was briefly called back up to the Marlins for three days at the end of July, but he did not play a game
  • recording three RBIs against Jake Odorizzi in an 11–6 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays.
  • He was sent back down to Jacksonville after only seven games, in which he had collected one run and five RBIs.
  • Realmuto was briefly called back up to the Marlins for three days at the end of July, but he did not play a game.
  • following Jacksonville's Southern League championship victory, Realmuto was recalled to the Marlins' expanded roster.
  • He appeared in 11 total major league games that season, batting .241 with nine RBIs and four runs.
  • Realmuto joined the Marlins for spring training in 2015 but was assigned to the Triple A New Orleans Zephyrs to start the season.
  • He spent three games there before being called up to replace an injured Jeff Mathis.
  • Realmuto was meant to serve as a backup catcher to Saltalamacchia, with several opportunities to start behind the plate as Mathis waited four to six weeks for his fractured finger to heal.
  • Saltalamacchia was designated for assignment on April 27, following an extended offensive and defensive slump, and Realmuto was named the Marlins' starting catcher.
  • He hit his first major league home run the following month, a two-run shot against Rubby De La Rosa in the seventh inning of a 3–2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 18, 2015.




Segment 3:  Career with the Phillies

  • At the arbitration deadline on January 11, 2019, Realmuto agreed to a $5.9 million contract with the Marlins, including bonuses for each All-Star selection, Silver Slugger, and Gold Glove Award.
  • However, in the fall of 2018, Realmuto and his agent had informed the Marlins that he would not sign a long-term contract with the team, and that he anticipated a trade.
  • On February 7, 2019, the Marlins traded Realmuto to the Phillies in exchange for catcher Jorge Alfaro, pitching prospects Sixto Sánchez and Will Stewart, and $250,000 in international bonus slot money.
  • Realmuto replaced Alfaro as the Phillies' starting catcher, with veteran Andrew Knapp serving in the backup role.
  • Realmuto received his second All-Star Game selection that year, again the only member of his team selected.
  • He was shut down during the last week of the season for a minor meniscus surgery after sustaining a knee injury during a game against the Cleveland Indians.
  • In 2019, Realmuto hit .275 with a career-high 25 home runs in a career-high 532 at bats.
  • He also led all major league catchers with 83 RBIs, 90 runs, 144 hits, and 36 doubles.
  • Defensively, he threw out 37 attempted base stealers, the most among major league catchers that season and the most of any Phillies catcher since Darren Daulton in 1993.
  • When the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2020 MLB season to 60 games, Phillies management wanted to ensure that Realmuto remained healthy throughout the abbreviated season. 
  •  Realmuto himself told reporters that he wanted to play in all 60 regular-season games that year and catch in at least 50.
  • He was an early star in the Phillies' disappointing season; although the team posted a 5–9 record in their first 14 games, Realmuto collected eight home runs within the same span.
  •  It was the second time that an MLB catcher had collected eight home runs in the first 15 games of the season, following Gabby Hartnett's 1925 run with the Chicago Cubs.
  • Realmuto remained healthy until September 12, when he exited a game against the Miami Marlins with hip discomfort.
  •  The timing of the injury left the Phillies without their primary catcher just before a stretch of 14 games in 11 days.[64] He was diagnosed with a strained hip flexor, and he missed 10 games with the injury before returning on September 22 for a game against the Nationals.
  • Realmuto batted .266 in 47 games that season, with 11 home runs, 32 RBIs, and 33 runs scored in 195 at-bats.
  • With the knowledge that Realmuto was on track to become a free agent at the end of the 2020 season, both Phillies fans and teammates began using the phrase "Sign J. T." to pressure managers into offering him a new contract.
  •  After Realmuto hit a two-run home run during a scrimmage, outfielder Bryce Harper yelled "sign him" to the front office.[68] Harper continued to push the Phillies to re-sign Realmuto throughout the season; after the final game of the season, he told reporters that, "Realmuto needs to be our catcher next year – plain and simple."


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