The Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday placed veteran catcher J.T. Realmuto on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 10, with right knee pain. The club adds that Realmuto will undergo right knee meniscectomy surgery on Wednesday in Philadelphia. In a corresponding move, the club has recalled catcher/first baseman Rafael Marchán from Triple-A.
Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies lead executive, said Tuesday that the team expects Realmuto to miss “about a month.” Baseball Prospectus’ injury database, for what it’s worth, indicates a general recovery period of about 6-8 weeks, sometimes longer.
Realmuto in this, his age-33 season has batted .261/.309/.411 (105 OPS+) with seven home runs in 51 games. Overall that’s plus production by the standards of the position, and no doubt his recent struggles at the plate have been partly owing to the increasing pain in his knee. Realmuto also remains a quality defensive catcher behind the plate.
Realmuto joined the Phillies prior to the 2019 season, and since that point he leads all catchers WAR. Over that same span, Realmuto’s 604 games caught leads all his positional peers by a wide margin (Martín Maldonado is second with 537 games).
While Realmuto is out, Garrett Stubbs figures to be the team’s primary catcher, with Marchán filling the backup role. Injuries are indeed a concern for the Phillies right now, as Realmuto joins shortstop Trea Turner (hamstring) and outfielder Brandon Marsh (hamstring) on the IL.
Going into Tuesday night’s slate, the Phillies at 45-20 boast the best record and baseball, and they lead the Braves by nine games in the National League East standings.
