Phillies 2024 Season Preview: C Garrett Stubbs

The next player in our Philadelphia Phillies 2024 Season Preview Series is catcher Garrett Stubbs.

Previous season previews: José Alvarado, Andrew Bellatti, Alec Bohm, Connor Brogdon, Nick Castellanos, Rodolfo Castro, Kody Clemens, Jake Cave, Dylan Covey, Seranthony Domínguez, Darick Hall, Kolby Allard, Bryce Harper, Jeff Hoffman, Orion Kerkering, Rafael Marchán, Brandon Marsh, Yunior Marté, Michael Mercado, Max Castillo, Nick Nelson, Aaron Nola, Luis Ortiz, Cristian Pache, J.T. Realmuto, Johan Rojas, Michael Rucker, Whit Merrifield, Cristopher Sánchez, Kyle Schwarber, Edmundo Sosa, Gregory Soto, Bryson Stott, Matt Strahm

We'll examine Stubbs' 2023 season and then evaluate projections for the 2024 season using the Steamer and ZiPS projection systems, which can be found on FanGraphs.

Garrett Stubbs 2023 stats and 2024 projections

2023 Stats: 41 G, 125 PA, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 2 SB, 9 BB, .204/.274/.283, .557 OPS, -0.3 fWAR

2024 Steamer: 26 G, 101 PA, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB, 10 BB, .218/.304/.342, .647 OPS, 0.0 fWAR

2024 ZiPS DC: 28 G, 109 PA, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 2 SB, 11 BB, .237/.318/.344, .661 OPS, 0.3 fWAR

Garrett Stubbs 2024 season preview

Stubbs will enter 2024 as the backup to starting catcher J.T. Realmuto for the third consecutive season. In 2022, the 30-year-old set a career-high with 50 games played. He also had a career-high slash line of .264/.350/.462 and a .812 OPS. He had a .990 fielding percentage, 285 putouts, 10 assists, and three errors defensively in 294 2/3 innings in 41 games at catcher.

His offensive numbers decreased in 2023 as he posted a .204/.274/.283 line with an OPS of .557 in 41 contests. He finished with a .984 fielding percentage, 294 putouts, eight assists, and five errors in 300 1/3 innings through 40 games defensively.

Expect results from Stubbs in 2024 that are similar to his 2023 numbers

Unless Realmuto suffers a long-term injury this season, expect Stubbs to play sporadically again in 2024. Steamer projects the Phillies' backup catcher to play in 26 games, while ZiPS DC predicts he will play in 28 contests.

Steamer and ZiPS DC predict him to have similar offensive numbers this year. The former expects Stubbs to finish with 101 plate appearances, two home runs, and 10 RBI. His stat line is predicted to be .218/.304/.342, along with a .647 OPS.

ZiPS DC forecasts Stubbs to have 109 plate appearances, one home run, and 11 RBI. His stat line is calculated to be a bit higher using this projection system as opposed to Steamer. ZiPS DC gauges his line to finish at .237/.318/.344, along with an OPS of .661.

Stubbs is having a solid spring training at the plate

Stubbs has played in eight spring training games before the Phillies' March 11 contest versus the New York Yankees. He has 17 plate appearances, six hits, and two RBI. The backup catcher has five singles, one double, and one run. His stat line is .429/.529/.500 with an OPS of 1.029.

If he plays occasionally in 2024, as expected, he would provide a boost to the club's offense if he can be productive in the majority of his at-bats. However, he is projected to be an average to below-average player offensively at best for the Phillies this season.