J.T. Realmuto has been a gold standard of catching since he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019. He's been solid offensively over his career, which makes the diminished 2025 version that much more puzzling. His offensive numbers have taken a hit this season and not allowed Realmuto to be a true difference maker in the lineup.
Natural decline with age is expected, but the Phillies' catcher is seeing more of a substantial drop-off than Phillies fans could have even anticipated. There's time to turn it around, but how to fix the issue will be the main concern.
J.T. Realmuto's struggles against left-handers are more obvious than ever
In 49 games, Realmuto is batting .223 with five home runs, 22 RBIs and a .651 OPS. His 81 wRC+ also ranks 13th overall among MLB catchers. What's more surprising than how his overall numbers have panned out, is his splits against right- and left-handed pitchers.
Typically, opposing arm slots for batters are easier to pick up for spin and movement, but that isn't the case for every hitter. Against right-handers, the right-handed hitting Realmuto is batting a substantial .272 with all five of his home runs and 17 RBIs in 140 plate appearances. In 59 plate appearances against left-handers, though, he's batting just .119 with no home runs and five RBIs while striking out 17 times (27.4 percent strikeout rate).
Realmuto has always batted slightly lower against southpaws, but this has grown into a massive concern through almost 60 games into the regular season. In a perfect world, Phillies fans would love Realmuto to get back to his career marks of .255 versus lefties and .275 versus righties. It's possible for him to snap out of it, but only time will tell if Realmuto can revive any offense from his previous campaigns, per MLB.com's Paul Casella. Even though it's primarily against left-handers where he's struggled the most, his current .651 OPS in 2025 would still mark his career-low across 12 seasons.
The 34-year-old catcher has been around the league a long time and has seen what the great players at his position are made of. They might not all hit among the league's best, but Realmuto has remained one of the best offensive threats from behind the plate in his decorated career, no matter where he's hitting in the lineup (subscription required), per Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
There's a lot left to prove given Realmuto's contract status. There's also still a lot of baseball to be played and if he can hone in on attacking lefties just a little better, we'll be having a much different discussion as the season winds down.