Phillies Player of the Week: J.T. Realmuto

Major League Baseball gives out awards for Player of the Week and Player of the Month, but with so many talented athletes in this game, the Philadelphia Phillies haven’t won many of these accolades lately.

In fact, the last time a Phillies player won NL Player of the month was Domonic Brown in May 2013. That month, he hit .303/.303/.688 with a .991 OPS, 12 home runs, 25 RBI, and three stolen bases in 28 games. The last time a Phillies player won NL Player of the Week was Jay Bruce on June 9, 2019.

But in the present, there is at least one player on this current Phillies team who has had an exceptional week. So going forward, every Sunday, we will christen the Phillies Player of the Week.

The inaugural accolade obviously goes to J.T. Realmuto.

Realmuto’s week was beyond exceptional. He started the week in at his third straight All-Star Game (excluding 2020, when no game took place), and became the first catcher in Phillies history to homer in the annual summer classic.

The NL squad lost again (they haven’t won since 2012), but this isn’t about them!

When the second half of the season resumed for the Phillies, Realmuto picked up right where he left off. East coast baseball was slightly affected by a weekend of unceasing rain, and the Phillies and Marlins were forced to suspend Saturday’s game and resume on Sunday morning.

Only 14 minutes after the Phillies and Marlins resumed play on Sunday morning, Realmuto faced down an 0-2 98 mph fastball from Yimi García and blasted a walk-off home run to give his team a 4-2 win ahead of their originally scheduled game.

"“We always say that J.T. is one of the best catchers in the game and he proved why right there. We needed a clutch hit and he walked us off. We need guys to step up, and so far so good in the second half.” – Zack Wheeler"

In their second game on Sunday, Realmuto stayed hot, going 3-for-5 with two RBI. His RBI single in the bottom of the second drove in Philadelphia’s second run of the game. In the bottom of the eighth, he repeated his efforts. The Phillies won their second game of the day, 7-4.

Due in large part to Realmuto’s work behind and at the plate, the Phillies have maintained an above-.500 record and are now within two games of the first-place Mets.

BCIB, indeed.