{"id":679125,"date":"2026-04-19T13:37:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/679125\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T13:37:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:37:17","slug":"phillies-should-be-concerned-about-injury-to-catcher-j-t-realmuto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/679125\/","title":{"rendered":"Phillies Should Be Concerned About Injury to Catcher J.T. Realmuto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">The tough stretch of baseball has continued for the Philadelphia Phillies, and in their loss to the Atlanta Braves, they saw one of their key players leave the game early.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6l\">It has not been a great start to the season for the Phillies. Through 20 games, they have an 8-12 record, and there really isn\u2019t too much going right for the team. While there is plenty of talent on the roster, they aren\u2019t pitching well, and they aren\u2019t hitting well either.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6o\">Prior to the game on Saturday against the Braves, the team announced that star closer Jhoan Duran would be heading to the injured list with an oblique strain. The<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/phillies\/onsi\/phillies-losing-key-pitcher-to-injured-list-comes-at-a-terrible-time\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> timing of Duran going to the IL<\/a> is certainly not ideal with the team struggling, and it could be a significant blow.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6r\">With him out, the team will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/phillies\/onsi\/three-players-who-need-to-step-up-for-phillies-with-jhoan-duran-on-injured\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">undoubtedly need players to step up<\/a>, and now they have to worry about another player as well. In the sixth inning on Saturday, catcher J.T. Realmuto left the game early with back tightness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6u\">For a veteran like Realmuto in a taxing position, that is not an ideal injury. Fortunately, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/phillies\/news\/j-t-realmuto-exits-game-with-injury\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Todd Zolecki of MLB.com<\/a>, he isn\u2019t expected to need a trip to the injured list from what manager Rob Thomson told him, but it will be unlikely for Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6x\">\u201cWe\u2019re checking on him now,\u201d Phillies manager Rob Thomson said, \u201cI doubt he\u2019ll play tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another Obstacle for Philadelphia<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kpjxxvkchha4f3taew.jpg\" alt=\" Philadelphia Phillies catcher JT Realmuto running \" title=\" Philadelphia Phillies catcher JT Realmuto running \" width=\"5043\" height=\"2836\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7a\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Philadelphia Phillies catcher JT Realmuto  | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7e\">While it is good news that Realmuto isn\u2019t expected to need a trip to the IL, back tightness at 35 years old has to be a concern. The veteran catcher has been a very reliable and durable one for the Phillies, but he plays a demanding, physical position and isn\u2019t getting younger.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7h\">So far this season, Realmuto has been one of the better and more consistent hitters in a lineup that has not performed well. In 16 games, he has slashed .280\/.368\/.380 with one home run and four RBI. Even though the power numbers have been declining, he is still a good contact hitter at the plate and can provide value offensively.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7k\">With Realmuto likely out for Sunday, it will be Rafael Marchan who probably gets the start for Philadelphia. This season, he has struggled at the plate, slashing .043\/.083\/.174 with his one hit being a home run.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7n\">Even though he might be able to avoid an IL stint, the Phillies should be a bit concerned with this injury for their veteran catcher.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The tough stretch of baseball has continued for the Philadelphia Phillies, and in their loss to the Atlanta&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2397],"tags":[5,4,144,25,4216,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-679125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-phillies","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-philadelphia","11":"tag-philadelphia-phillies","12":"tag-philadelphiaphillies","13":"tag-phillies"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116431648655331078","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}