Q&A: J.T. Realmuto on the Phillies’ chances in 2025, his future, and more
As Realmuto enters the final year of his contract, he appeared as a guest on “Phillies Extra,” The Inquirer’s new baseball show.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — J.T. Realmuto was talking to his wife the other day about how it seemed like he would be with the Phillies forever when he signed a $115.5 million contract before the 2021 season.
“It’s crazy,” he said, “how fast these last five years have gone by.”
Time flies when you’re chasing a World Series. As Realmuto enters the final year of his contract, he appeared as a guest on “Phillies Extra,” The Inquirer’s new baseball show, to discuss why he’s confident in the team’s chances, his interest in signing an extension, how many games he thinks he can start behind the plate, and more.
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Here is an excerpt from our conversation with Realmuto, which has been edited for brevity. Listen to the entire interview here.
Q: Why do you like the Phillies’ chances in the National League this year?
A: The National League is going to be really tough this year. There’s a lot of teams at the top that are going to be very, very good, but I just feel like we have the talent to match up with those guys and whether it be starting pitching, bullpen, our lineup, our defense is continually getting better. I just think that we have a championship-caliber team. I know that we have a championship-caliber team. It’s just a matter of putting it together at the right time.
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You know, the last couple years, we haven’t quite gotten where we feel like we need to be in the playoffs, and we haven’t lived up to the expectations that we hold for ourselves. But it’s not because we don’t have the talent. We know we’re good enough to beat those teams. And I mean, we proved it last year. I’m pretty sure we won the season series against the Dodgers. Like, we beat top teams. We know that we can do that. We have a ton of talent in our clubhouse. We just got to be able to put it together at the right time.
Q: How long do you want to play?
A: There’s not necessarily a number. I’m not as specific, you know, as Bryce [Harper] has been able to be with a number [playing into his 40s], but I do want to play as long as my body lets me. I want to play as long as I can. I don’t know what that [age] is going to be, and I don’t necessarily have a goal for that. It has to do with how my body feels and also my wife and my family. If they’re getting to an age where they want me to be home a little more or the kids are missing me too much, then that might honestly be the day that I’m like, ‘OK, I’m ready to stop playing.’
But as long as my wife, my kids are enjoying this career and my body feels good and I’m productive, obviously, I don’t want to just be playing to play. I want to be helping a team win as long as I can do that. I’m going to play. And right now, you know, I try to put myself in the best position to do that. I try to take care of myself recovery-wise in the weight room, do all the little things that I can do on a daily basis so that later in my career I’m able to play longer than most.
Q: Rob Thomson has said he might have a conversation with you about lightening your workload. Where do you fall on that?
A: There’s not an exact number for me that I’m looking to catch. I don’t think there’s a perfect answer as far as how many games should I catch at this point in my career. I just think we have to be honest with ourselves and go by how I’m feeling or how I’m performing. If I’m playing well and feeling good, then I don’t see why I can’t catch 130-135 [games] like I have in the past. If I’m not feeling as good, then me and [Thomson] are going to have those conversations and I have to be off. And I know at this point I’ll be honest with him and just say, ‘Hey, this is what I’m feeling.’ But I don’t necessarily envision needing to, like, take tons of extra rest just because of how good my body feels right now.
Last year, the surgery I ended up having was on a game that the infield was drenched. It was completely wet. And I tweaked my knee running around second base on a triple. It wasn’t in August because I had caught too much. So, in my opinion, the wear and tear from catching I don’t feel that on a daily basis yet. My body still feels great. Like I said, I do what I can to try to take care of myself, so I think it’s just there’s no real number set for me. It’s just I have to be honest and we have to go by how my body is feeling.
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Q: Zack Wheeler got an extension last year. It’s a time of year a lot of players tend to think about that, and then they don’t want to think about it again once the season starts. Where do you fall on that?
A: I don’t have a deadline as far as they go once the season starts, but I obviously have interest in coming back to the Phillies. I love being here. My wife loves it here, my family. Their friends are all in the organization — we love being with the Phillies, so there’s certainly interest on our end. I would hope the Phillies have interest as well, but you know, we’ll see. We’ll see what happens in spring training. I know it’s a popular time to get extensions done. We just got down to Florida, so we’ll go back to Florida from Oklahoma. So we’ll see what happens, but there’s definitely interest for me. I love this organization, and it’s one that I’m certainly proud to be a part of.