Rafael Marchán is not exactly beloved by Philadelphia Phillies fans. Even on X (formerly Twitter), users have come out of the woodwork to disparage the 27-year-old veteran after his hot start in the Venezuelan Winter League.
Couldn't give a rat's ass. DFA.
— Slim Willy (@CameronW_34) October 25, 2026
Whoopie do. He’s still a scrub when it comes to MLB.
— Steven H Asness (@StevenHAsness) October 25, 2026
He still sucks
— Michael J Ranieri (@MichaelJRanieri) October 25, 2026
Through seven games for Tiburones La Guaira, Marchán is slashing .333/.417/.429. It’s almost in line with his impressive, albeit unsustainable, 2024 campaign when Marchán batted .294 with a .345 OBP and .549 slugging.
Since then, Marchán has slashed .158/.217/.240 in 213 plate appearances over two years. It’s a miracle he’s kept his backup catcher job, but the Phillies and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski love his defense, and for good reason.
The diminutive Venezuelan native posted seven catching runs according to StatCast last year. How he managed to accrue that total in just 34 games is a minor miracle that probably involves some serious sample-size luck, but he’s still among the league’s best backstops.
Marchán is frustrating, but he's better than we give him credit for
What those angry fans don’t see is that nearly every team in baseball has a suboptimal backup-catcher situation. Yes, Marchán is probably the worst hitter of the bunch, but there aren’t a myriad of high-value catchers floating cheaply on the free-agent market, ready to come in and play only 40-60 games a season in Philadelphia.
If the Phillies want to find a better-hitting backup catcher, their best free-agent option this winter is probably James McCann, who slashed .282/.311/.455 in 166 plate appearances last year. The problem with McCann is that few catchers in baseball are worse at fielding their position.
McCann was worth minus-six catching runs in 2026 according to StatCast; he was as bad behind the plate as Marchan was good. McCann’s pop time was in the 20th percentile, and his framing was in the 11th percentile.
This isn’t to say going into the season with Marchán (or Garrett Stubbs) as the Phillies primary backup catcher is a better plan. It’s to show there is no perfect solution, which is why Dombrowski will almost certainly give Marchán a shot in spring training to keep his job.
The Phillies will bring in competition at the position; not doing so would be malpractice, especially with Realmuto aging and more prone to injury.
But, like it or not, Phillies fans should be happy that he’s doing well so far in Venezuela, because Marchán will still be here when spring training rolls around.
Add us as a preferred source on Google