The Phillies have placed catcher J.T. Realmuto on the 10-day injured list due to a left hand contusion, with a retroactive placement date of May 18. Matt Joyce has been activated from the 10-day IL to take Realmuto’s spot on the active roster.
Realmuto has missed the Phils’ last four games due to a bone bruise on his left hand. Prior to that injury, Realmuto had also missed a couple of games due to a knee bruise and a non-COVID illness, so a stint on the injured list might be what the star catcher needs in order to fully recover from this flurry of issues. Waiting to decide on Realmuto’s IL placement now looks like a mistake on the Phillies’ part, as between Realmuto and other minor injury absences, the team was short-handed on more than one occasion in recent days.
Regardless, the team now finds itself officially without the game’s best catcher for at least another week, counting the three days’ worth of backdating allotted for an IL placement. Realmuto has been even more productive than usual, hitting .294/.400/.486 with four home runs over his first 130 plate appearances of the season. Extrapolated over a full season, Realmuto’s batting average, OBP, wRC+ (144) and OPS+ (147) would all be new career bests for the 30-year-old backstop.
There is no way to truly replace Realmuto, so the Phillies will have to make do with the tandem of Andrew Knapp and Rafael Marchan while the former All-Star recuperates. Realmuto joins Didi Gregorius, Roman Quinn, and Scott Kingery on the injured list, in the biggest blow yet to a lineup that has been around the middle of the pack in overall offensive production.
Joyce’s return could provide some help, if the veteran shakes off his early-season slump (.423 OPS in 38 PA). Joyce suffered a right calf strain that sent him to the injured list on May 5. After signing a minor league deal with the Phillies in the offseason, Joyce has appeared in 18 games for the team, playing both corner outfield roles.
He’s been injured for quite awhile. Phillies should’ve done this a lot earlier.
Was wondering what your take was, @Hayes.
I get taking some time to make a decision on a player like Realmuto*. Tough to lose a guy like him for any length of time.
*whom I also have as the best catcher in MLB. For whatever that worth.
They’re without the game’s best catcher? Didn’t realize Molina was traded to the Phillies…
You can argue about who was better in their prime. Realmuto is better now when healthy.
Eh, debatable. Defense, Yadi still takes it. Not his fault no one wants to run on him. Offense? Yeah, Realmuto is good with better power and average wise, but Molina doesn’t strike out much, posts good walks, strong OBP. So it’s close. I think anyway. May be biased.
I disagree, and yes your biased, but that’s okay. Who isn’t?
Very true, my good person.
I’m sorry is Molina still playing 10 years ago while everyone else is in 2021?
Is there a useful strategy involved with the 10 day IL vs the old 14 day version? Seems like it has been abused by teams since they started using it.
So many injuries after resigning. Future dh or 1b
The Phillies are a team with no backbone right now. They seem to have given up.
They have the worst run differential in the NL East now. They are just simply not a great team. Some people will probably consider this heresy, but demoting Alec Bohm would be a start in the right direction.