J.T. Realmuto's costly blunder highlights bigger issue for Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are not a fundamentally sound baseball team. A payroll of over $300 million still hasn’t bought owner John Middleton a group that can convert batted balls into outs and avoid inexplicable blunders that blow winnable games. Case in point, J.T. Realmuto’s horrifying baserunning gaffe on Tuesday sunk the Phillies’ chances to come back late in a contest against the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers.

Realmuto is not the villain of this story. The two-time Gold Glove Award winner has earned himself a reputation as one of the more stellar backstops in the game. Instead, he’s more of a timely figurehead for a larger organizational problem: sloppiness. 

The current era of Phillies baseball has been symbolized by elite talents like Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Zack Wheeler; some of the best players in the league who can single-handedly take over games. Unfortunately, their supporting cast has left much to be desired. 

The Phillies have employed a lot of slugs in the Dave Dombrowski era. Statues like Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos have allowed plenty of hits to fall in, while wrong-footed shortstop Trea Turner has booted many a routine grounder and airmailed plenty of throws to first base. The Phillies as a whole rank dead last in the sport with -36 Defensive Runs Saved, and are ranked 24th in baseball since 2022 with a shocking -78 mark. 

The perfect encapsulation of the Phillies’ thoroughly rotten fundamentals was the bitter end of the 2025 season. In extra innings with the game on the line, electric reliever Orion Kerkering took the mound against the mighty Dodgers. With two outs and the bases loaded, Kerkering induced a weak groundball right back to the pitcher. Perfect. 

Unfortunately, instead of doing what any Little Leaguer knew, which was to throw to first base, Kerkering panicked and fired the ball into no man’s land down the third base line. And with that, the Phillies’ season ended with a whimper. They didn’t even make their opponents earn a victory. They simply threw it all away. 

Realmuto’s gaffe on Tuesday was very much in the same vein, as the tying and winning runs were on third and second base, respectively, with one out in the bottom of the ninth. A short chopper to third base caused rookie Justin Crawford to get mired in a rundown, and Realmuto alertly moved himself to third. Much like in the Kerkering incident, any 10-year-old with a passing knowledge of the game should know to stand his ground once he’s safely at the base.

Unfortunately, the 13-year big league veteran didn’t get the memo, and he scampered back towards second in a misguided attempt to let Crawford take his place at third. Future Hall of Famer Mookie Betts took advantage of the lapse in judgment, placing a tag on Crawford and firing back to second base to nab Realmuto for the game-ending out. 

There’s no need to kill J.T. Realmuto for one of the worst moments he’ll ever have on a baseball diamond. He’s done far more good than bad in his eight seasons in Philadelphia, and is almost certainly destined for a Wall of Fame plaque one day. However, his most recent ignominy should provide a valuable lesson for the franchise, if they’re willing to learn it. 

The Phillies need to relearn the findamentals before it costs them again in October

Realmuto took full ownership for his costly mistake afterwards, telling reporters, “[It was] just a lapse in judgment. Can’t make two outs on that play.” Fair enough. A fan favorite player faced the music and owned up to his failure. Can’t ask for more than that. 

However, what Realmuto said after that should be a wake up call to management.

“A lot of times games are going to be won by little things," he stated. "They’ve [the Dodgers] been able to make less mistakes than we have really in our series and going back to last postseason… Where we have to get better is kinda on those edges, make the small plays, make the routine plays, and not give them extra outs, not give away outs on the bases.”

He’s absolutely right. The Phillies are a talented baseball team, as are the Dodgers. The main difference between the two is execution. The Dodgers didn’t throw away chances to extend or finish off games last October, but the Phillies did. The Dodgers didn’t turn their brains off and run into crucial outs on the basepaths, but the Phillies did. 

The Phillies have the talent to win a World Series. The question is, have they mastered the fundamentals required to do it? Everything becomes magnified in the playoffs and good teams take advantage of mistakes. The Phillies make a heck of a lot of mistakes and it’s sunk them time and time again. If they ever want to get over the hump and win a World Series, they’ll need to tighten up their sloppy play. Whether or not they’ll get the message remains to be seen.

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