The Philadelphia Phillies starting lineup could undergo a hard reboot in the not so distant future, with Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto next in cue to hit free agency at the end of the 2025 season. Phillies fans were recently reminded of that rapidly approaching circumstance when The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal revealed that the Phillies front office had approached Schwarber about signing a contract extension (subscription required). The slugger passed on the proposal and opted to bet on himself and play out the season on his expiring deal.
While replacing a designated hitter with the elite offensive production of Schwarber would certainly be a daunting challenge, it's also not impossible. The same can't be said of Realmuto and the catcher's position.
Behind the plate, Realmuto has made handling an MLB pitching staff and controlling the running game look too easy for a long time now. His combination of power and speed on the offensive side of the equation makes him a unicorn in a sport where the words "speed" and "catcher" have traditionally not gone hand in hand.
Unlike Schwarber, Realmuto has shown interest in signing an extension with the Phillies. Although The Philadelphia Inquirer's Scott Lauber reported that despite the team and player having mutual interest in getting a deal done (subscription required), there hasn't been much to report on the status of such talks nearly one month into the 2025 regular season.
With many of the Phillies' core position players starting to get a little older, it looks like the front office could be forced to choose between re-signing Schwarber or Realmuto if the team's goal is to get younger next offseason. While it remains to be seen how Phillies manager Rob Thomson and the front office would handle Realmuto's departure, it's little secret that the Phillies believe they may have found his eventual successor in top catching prospect Eduardo Tait.
Prospect Eduardo Tait is the Phillies' most important asset, with J.T. Realmuto lined up for free agency
For Phillies fans who recently tuned in to watch Ranger Suárez's first two rehab starts with the Single-A Clearwater Threshers, it was a bonus to see him paired up with Tait, the Phillies' top catching prospect. Currently ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the system, the 18-year-old Panamanian product's bat has continued to impress to start the season.
Coming off a 2024 season in which he was named a Florida Complex League All-Star, earning a promotion to Clearwater, Tait has picked up where he left off. He's batting .237 with 14 hits, four home runs and 13 RBIs over his first 52 at-bats. That includes a four-game stretch between April 9-12 where he belted three home runs and was 4-for-15 with six runs scored.
Tait's power was once again on display Tuesday when he launched a 424-foot two-run blast with an exit velocity of 113.8 mph.
Tait also earns high marks with his defense, and so far this season has a .990 fielding percentage and has thrown out four would-be base stealers (33 percent). He's still learning how to handle a pitching staff, but Tait's combination of power and defense shares a lot in common with Realmuto.
While starting pitching is probably the most coveted commodity in the major leagues, Detroit Tiger's president of baseball operations Scott Harris recently spoke with MLB.com's Mark Feinsand about the importance of building a roster around the catching position.
“[A catcher] can impact a game in so many ways,” said Harris, per Feinsand. “An impact catcher that can give you an edge on both sides of the ball, that’s a great way to start team building because you’re going to have such an advantage both defensively and offensively.”
This isn't a fact lost on the Phillies, either, as Realmuto's leadership on and off the field has contributed to a winning culture for much of his seven seasons in Philadelphia. With extending Realmuto looking increasingly unlikely, Tait's development behind the plate is even more important, with the Phillies' post-2025 catching plans currently unknown.
If the front office decides that the best course of action after this season is re-signing Schwarber and letting Realmuto walk, Tait becomes an almost untouchable asset in any future trade discussions.