Aug 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) celebrates his two-run home run with first base Bryce Harper (3) during the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners in the dugout at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
J.T. Realmuto is in his seventh season with the Philadelphia Phillies. It may be his last, no one knows. Free agency is looming about 10 weeks from now and a lot can happen at that time.
For his part, Realmuto is trying not to think about it.
Now 34, which is usually old for catchers - who seem to age in dog years - it would make sense if it was starting to creep into his head.
Guys his age at his position don't usually sign long-term extensions. There are rarities, of course, like Yadier Molina was in St. Louis. And Realmuuto is no longer known by a moniker that was tattooed on his baseball card as recently as 2022 - BCIB, or Best Catcher in Baseball.
He has been surpassed.
A look across the diamond this week and he can see Seattle's Cal Raleigh, who leads the majors with 47 home runs and is one shy of tying the Major League record for most in a season by a catcher - and it's not even September yet.
Will Smith from the Los Angeles Dodgers leads all catchers in fWAR (4.1). Dillon Dingler is a young upstart in Detroit everyone is talking about. William Contreras is backstopping a Milwaukee Brewers team having a summer for the ages for a small market team. Carson Kelly is having a revival with the Chicago Cubs and Hunter Goodman was the lone (and deserving) All-Star for the Colorado Rockies.
And Realmuto isn't close to being as productive a hitter as he was for the Phillies when they made their run to the World Series in 2022. He hit 22 homers that year. He had 48 extra base hits. His .276 batting average and .820 OPS were the best full-season totals (we tend to not count the Covid-shortened 2020 in these discussions) of his time in Philadelphia.
J.T. Realmuto & Rafael Marchan are leaders in Catcher Pop Time (to 2B) this season, according to Baseball Savant.
The average Pop Time in MLB is 2.00 pic.twitter.com/E6Zp9Hd1Ri
With a lot of difficult financial decisions awaiting the Phillies this offseason (Kyle Schwarber and Ranger Suarez are both going to be free agents as well), Realmuto's diminished production is going to be considered heavily in those decisions.
But while using the word "diminished" is factually accurate - His current .741 OPS is the lowest of his career since his first full season as a Big Leaguer in 2015 - it doesn't accurately describe what we're currently seeing out of Realmuto.
See, that's because for the first two months of 2025, Realmuto looked cooked offensively.
Through the end of May, Realmuto was slashing .222/.293/.361 for a .654 OPS.
Since then? Well... He's looked a lot like the BCIB again.
His .326 batting average since June 1 is third in the sport behind Athletics rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz (.343) and Miami shortstop Xavier Edwards (.331).
His .364 on base percentage is tops in the sport among all catchers. He has more hits (70) than any catcher in the sport. His 15 doubles are tied for second-most among catchers.
Where he's lacked has been in power, as he only had three home runs in that time before Tuesday.
Wait... check that...
The red-hot J.T. Realmuto gives the Phillies a late lead with this 💣
pic.twitter.com/OOLZwkQSVz
It's now four.
That home run was crucial. It came in the bottom of the eighth and broke a tie leading the Phillies to their third straight win, 6-4 over the Seattle Mariners, maintaining their 5 1/2-game lead on the New York Mets for first place in the NL East and a one-game lead over the Dodgers for the No. 2 seed (and a playoff bye) for the NL playoffs.
"I was just trying to get a pitch in the heart of the plate," Realmuto said. "Honestly, he's (Seattle's Matt Brash) got really good stuff. He's got a wipeout slider.
Early in the count I was just trying to get something over the middle of the plate and he gave me one."
Realmuto was the latest offensive hero for a Phillies lineup that has awoken since the announcement about Zack Wheeler's blood clot after their loss on Saturday.
Since then the Phillies have 29 runs and 40 hits in three games and are hitting .351 as a team.
But three games is a small sample. For Realmuto, nearly three months is not. This is almost half a season now where Realmuto has been a difference-maker offensively and providing stability in the lineup behind Bryce Harper in the cleanup spot.
"I don't feel like there's anything specific that I could point out," Realmuto said about the sudden change in his sustained success after two months of looking like a catcher on the back nine of his career. "We've been working hard in the cage and I have a good routine going with the guys, the hitting coaches, so I'm just going to try to ride that out as long as I can."
The Phillies are hoping that can be for another couple months, because that would mean they are playing baseball into late October, and potentially reaching their ultimate goal.
And when that's determined, that's when Realmuto will worry about pondering his future.
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto was asked about free agency after his clutch homer vs the Mariners. He said as long as they have a good season and win a World Series, everything will take care of itself. @KYWNewsradio pic.twitter.com/lNXMKAhZiN
"It's definitely in the back of your head," Realmuto said. "But for me, I just try to focus on winning. I've been here a long time. I've enjoyed my time here. As long as we have a good season and we go and win a World Series, everything will take care of itself. That's kind of my thought process right now."
With the way he's hitting, the Phillies don't want him to think any differently.
