The Philadelphia Phillies are positioning themselves as buyers heading into the trade deadline, but they’ve got some roster cleanup to handle first.
Philadelphia’s shopping list includes an outfielder and bullpen help, but there’s another need that’s becoming harder to ignore: backup catcher. Rafael Marchan has been filling that role behind J.T. Realmuto, but his time might be running out sooner than expected.
FanSided’s Zachary Rotman predicted Marchan would be cut loose “long before” the deadline arrives.
The 26-year-old made the opening day roster over Garrett Stubbs, largely because Marchan was out of options. That decision isn’t aging well.
Marchan’s slashing just .163/.281/.265 through 20 games, while Stubbs is hitting .253 down in Triple-A. It’s a small sample size for Marchan, but the gap in performance is obvious.
Realmuto’s caught 61 games this year and rarely takes days off, but that doesn’t mean the backup position can be ignored. If something happens to their All-Star catcher, Marchan hasn’t shown he’s someone they can count on.
Stubbs would be the natural replacement, but he’s got his own offensive limitations. He hit .207/.296/.262 in 56 games for Philadelphia last season.
If the Phillies don’t trust Stubbs either, they’ll need to look outside the organization for an upgrade.
“The Phillies have given Marchan almost three full months on the roster to prove himself. At this point, it’s safe to say he isn’t cut out to be relied on as the backup catcher.”
The way I see it, Philadelphia’s in a tough spot here. They need reliability behind the plate, especially with Realmuto’s workload. Moving on from Marchan seems inevitable at this point.
That opens up another area where the Phillies might need to get creative before the deadline. They’re already looking for help in multiple areas, and now the backup catcher situation adds another item to their list.
