Phillies: 4 candidates for backup catcher role in 2020

With just two weeks until Phillies pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater, there are several candidates who could back up J.T. Realmuto in 2020.

The 2020 Phillies season is fast approaching, less than two months away in fact, meaning spring training is even closer.

J.T. Realmuto will look to build off of his stellar first season in red pinstripes in 2019, after he earned his second career All-Star nod and Silver Slugger Award, along with his first career Gold Glove Award.

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Realmuto stayed healthy throughout the season, and played in all but 17 games. The problem is, he cannot play in all 162, meaning it is important to consider just who will be his backup under new manager Joe Girardi, as the club looks to return to the postseason for the first time since 2011.

The backup catcher role is not as important as others, but it is still critical in the sense of keeping the momentum going for starting pitchers, and providing quality defense with at least serviceable offense. In 2008, the Phillies had 35-year-old Chris Coste back up Carlos Ruiz; Coste just so happened to have some “pop” in his bat that year, producing a .263 batting average, along with a career-high nine home runs and 36 RBI in 98 games.

Currently, there are four catchers the Phillies are inviting to spring training to compete for the backup catcher role. Two of them played on the team’s major-league roster last season, while another is a five-year veteran that began the first three seasons of his career, 2013 through 2015, with the divison rival Atlanta Braves.

Click through to see these four players and who just might backup Realmuto in 2020.

1. Deivy Grullon

Deivy Grullon is one of three catchers on the Phillies’ 40-man roster.

The right-handed hitting, Bonao, Dominican Republic, native made his long-awaited MLB debut in late September of last season, albeit him slashing only .111/.111/.222 with one hit (a double), one RIB and two strikeouts spanning four games and nine plate appearances.

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Although, Grullon did show early promise behind the plate, committing no errors over 17 innings and 21 chances.

Grullon’s bat is what intrigues the Phillies the most; in his 108 games played last season with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, he slashed .283/.354/.496 with 24 doubles, 21 home runs and 77 RBI. A year prior at Double-A, he tallied 14 doubles, 21 home runs and 59 RBI.

Hence, we simply saw a small sample size from Grullon with nine plate appearances in the majors, late in the season with just days, in hindsight, remaining under the tenure of Gabe Kapler.

If Grullon shines this spring, it would be difficult for the Phillies to keep a soon-to-be 24 year old (come February 17) down in the minors.

2. Andrew Knapp

Andrew Knapp is one of three catchers on the Phillies’ 40-man roster, joining J.T. Realmuto and Deivy Grullon.

The 28-year-old, switch-hitting catcher has played 214 games in the majors, all with the Phillies, since his April 2017 debut. Spanning 579 plate appearances, Knapp has slashed .223/.327/.336 with 23 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 36 RBI, 73 walks and 182 strikeouts.

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The Phillies have relied on Knapp, especially last season, to simply give Realmuto rest and hope that his defense can overcome any differences in offense between he and the two-time All-Star. Knapp committed just three errors in 2019 as catcher across 297 1/3 innings and 341 chances; a year prior, however, his eight errors were the fifth-most among all National League catchers.

Perhaps the Phillies are hoping that Knapp can regain some of the spark he had across the Advanced-A and Double-A levels in 2015, in which he combined to slash .308/.385/.491 with 13 home runs and 84 RBI across 118 games and 522 plate appearances. As a starting catcher in 2019, however, he had a polar opposite performance, slashing only .208/.333/.337 with two home runs and six RBI across 39 games and 123 plate appearances.

It was believed Knapp would be the definite favorite to return for a fourth straight season as backup catcher, especially after he and the team avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $700,000 contract in early December.

Just a few weeks later, however, the Phillies brought in a five-year veteran catcher on a minor-league deal to create competition for the Roseville, California native: Christian Bethancourt.

3. Christian Bethancourt

Christian Bethancourt is one of two non-roster invitee catchers on the Phillies’ 2020 spring training roster; he signed in late December on a minor-league pact.

Bethancourt, 28, made his big-league debut on September 29, 2013, against the Phillies while with the division rival Braves: a pinch-hit appearance in which he struck out. That would be his only game that season, before playing 160 games over the next four seasons with the Braves (2014-15) and San Diego Padres (2016-17).

While the Panama, native is a career .222/.252/.316 hitter with 20 doubles, eight home runs, 46 RBI, 18 walks, and 119 strikeouts over 161 games and 489 plate appearances, he is more so notable for having experience playing not only the catcher position, but also left field and right field, as well as second base.

Bethancourt has not appeared in the majors since 2017; with the Milwaukee Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2018, he was named an All-Star and slashed .297/.328/.506 with 22 doubles, 20 home runs and 71 RBI over 104 games. This past season, he hit .246 with eight home runs and 29 RBI in 53 games in Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) action; he was released mid-season.

Another position Bethancourt  has been utilized in is pitcher; he has tossed a combined six games for the Padres in 2016 and 2017; also, at the Triple-A level in 2017, he logged 34 appearances and 41 2/3 innings on the mound, albeit struggling with an 8.21 ERA and 1.992 WHIP.

Just five years ago, Bethancourt was considered among the Braves’ top prospects, having been ranked by Baseball America as the 69th best prospect overall entering the 2014 season, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman.