The Philadelphia Phillies have put themselves in a great spot after a tragic 9-19 start to the season and are now cruising to a playoff berth - barring collapse, of course. In order to wash away the stench of three consecutive playoff disappointments, the Phils will have to do more than simply make the postseason; they’ll need to win. To do that they’ll need to make the most out of every single roster spot. If they want to avoid making the same mistake as last year, they should carry Garrett Stubbs as the backup catcher.
One thing needs to be made clear right off the bat: J.T. Realmuto should catch every single pitch for the Phillies in October. Short of an injury or a blowout, whoever the backup catcher is will not need to see the field. Realmuto may be a far cry from his former "best catcher in baseball" form, but he’s still lightyears ahead of backups Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchán at the plate and in the field.
That being said, the Phillies will still need to carry two catchers on the postseason roster. Both Stubbs and Marchán offer little of value other than being a warm body behind the plate, and if Realmuto goes down for any length of time, the team will be in serious trouble. Still, the Phils could squeeze a bit of extra value out of that roster spot.
Travel back in time 11 months to the 2025 National League Division Series between the Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers. Every fan remembers how tragically that matchup ended for Philly, but before Orion Kerkering’s season-ending blunder, another much-maligned Phillie cost his team a winnable game.
In the bottom of the ninth in Game 2, erstwhile right fielder Nick Castellanos found himself on second base with no outs and the Phillies down one. Bryson Stott laid down what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt, but Castellanos and the piano on his back got a horrible secondary lead and were thrown out at third base on a wheel play. That effectively indeed the Phillies’ scoring threat, and they went down two games to none a few batters later.
Jimmy Rollins analyzed Nick Castellanos’ base running during the Bryson Stott bunt situation:
— OnPattison (@OnPattison) October 7, 2025
“As a baserunner, you have to see what’s going on.”
(via @TNTSportsUS) pic.twitter.com/SqofRC6pKE
Fans wondered why Castellanos was left in as the tying run. Everyone knew he was one of the team's slowest runners, but the stark reality was that the Phils had no one to put in his place.
The bench for that game consisted of Stott (who was being used as a pinch hitter), Harrison Bader (who was limited to pinch hitting duties due to a leg injury), Weston Wilson (who was kept in reserve as Bader’s replacement in the field), Max Kepler (who had pinch hit for Otto Kemp the previous inning), and Marchán.
With so many moving parts, Marchán was the only man left unused who could have conceivably run for Castellanos, but he was somehow even slower than the $100 million right fielder. In short, the Phillies painted themselves into a corner and Rafael Marchán had no ability to get them out of it.
Garrett Stubbs could have come in handy for the Phillies last postseason, and they would be wise to put him on the roster this time around
Now, imagine a scenario in which Marchán had been left off the playoff roster in favor of Stubbs. Neither player can hit worth a darn, but Stubbs runs well enough (at least better than Castellanos), has an excellent baseball IQ, and has made a handful of appearances in the outfield before, meaning the Phils wouldn’t have been completely punting their defensive alignment.
Do the Phillies win Game 2 in that scenario? Who’s to know. There’s no guarantee that Stubbs wouldn’t have been thrown out at third base as well, but he would have at least had a better chance of making it there and in turn scoring the tying run. It’s not inconceivable that such a butterfly effect could have saved the Phillies’ season.
Playoff baseball games are won on the margins, and the Phillies will need to make the most of every advantage they can get, however minute they may be. They may find themselves in a similar situation this October, and Garrett Stubbs is much more suited to the task of pinch runner or defensive replacement than Rafael Marchán.
Between two backup catchers who both can’t hit and shouldn’t take a single at-bat, the clear choice is to go with the one who can contribute in other aspects of the game. Garrett Stubbs isn’t much, but he’s better than nothing.
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