Catcher Garrett Stubbs has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, reports Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The 32-year-old was designated for assignment earlier this week to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for infielder Christian Cairo.
A wide-ranging spring that included a potential positional change and trade discussions now ends with Stubbs remaining in the organization at the minor league level. He’s on a split contract that will pay him $575,000 in the minors, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.
With Rafael Marchán slated for backup catcher duties behind J.T. Realmuto, Stubbs didn’t have a clear route to a roster spot. That changed in early March, when the veteran backstop emerged as an option to replace Johan Rojas. Stubbs began taking reps in the infield and the outfield following the news that Rojas was facing a PED suspension. “There’s nothing that says [Stubbs] couldn’t be the 26th man and we carry three catchers,” manager Rob Thomson said at the time. The skipper reiterated that Stubbs would work out in the infield and outfield if he remained in the organization after the DFA, relays Zolecki.
Utilityman Dylan Moore ultimately earned the final spot on the roster. As a veteran with ample experience all over the diamond, he was a more logical choice to fill in for the suspended Rojas. Reports popped up last week that Philadelphia was looking to trade Stubbs. With the catcher out of minor league options, the Phillies tried to find a taker before DFAing him. No one bit, and the Phillies were able to successfully slip him through waivers and stash the veteran at Lehigh Valley.
Philadelphia acquired Stubbs in a November 2021 trade with the Astros. He’s earned part-time work over the past four seasons with the club. The lefty swinger has slashed .215/.293/.310 in 521 big-league plate appearances. Stubbs made a considerable impact with the Phillies in his first campaign, posting a 129 wRC+ across 50 games. He struggled to replicate that success in subsequent seasons. Stubbs made just five appearances in the big leagues last year.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Can’t he please just go away
No.
Lol. The scary thing is there are people that actually tell themselves Marchan is much better than Stubbs
The both stink, but for some reason, Stubbs really annoys me.
Dont be hatin!
Don’t be hatin’ in Swarthmore!
I hate Swarthmore more than I hate Stubbs. 😂
Next you’ll be hatin’ on the Seahawks!
If you lived in Swarthmore, you’d understand, and no hate for the Seahawks. Just Stubbs and Swarthmore
I know the area well, but wasn’t aware of any controversy with the exception of Mare of Easttown. But no hatin’ on Stubbville!
Send him down to Stubbville, where the people train runs.
See ya, Stubby
It was a good decision to do the split contract with him. He’s great with the young pitchers at AAA. Plus, you usually need a 3rd catcher at some point during a season. You could do a lot worse than Stubby.
As a triple A catcher/coach in good with it. Id use Moore as the emergency catcher before calling up Stubbs.
…in good with it? 🤦♂️
STUBBS!
Thank the Lord for Stubby, and thank you baseball for not taking his contract! 👍
Stubbs? What happened to Crockett?
How bad is the Phillies depth? Who is drafting? Hello 👋?👋?👋
Stubbs is one of those players who gets hated on a lot, and I really don’t understand it.
He’s a perfectly suitable second — Marchan is a better option for the Phillies, but if they’d gone with Stubbs I don’t they’d be *much* worse off — and this is not really an unexpected career trajectory for him:
Got some significant big league time, but never really blossoms into a major-league-caliber player. Close, very close, but just shaky enough that it wasn’t hard to wind up with someone better, if only marginally so.
But he gets so much vitriol against him, in many of the forums and threads… IMO he doesn’t deserve any of that.