Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto tries to clarify his ‘little bit of money’ comment

MIAMI — Last week before the Phillies left for Toronto, catcher J.T. Realmuto shared his reasons for why he wouldn’t get vaccinated so he could enter Canada, where vaccination against the coronavirus is a requirement. Realmuto was one of four Phillies players who were placed on the restricted list ahead of the Blue Jays series because they were not vaccinated.

Realmuto’s comments were polarizing, but one comment in particular stuck out. He said that the salary he would be forfeiting by missing the two games in Canada — which amounted to approximately $260,000 — was “a little bit of money.”

“I’m not going to let Canada tell me what I do and don’t put in my body for a little bit of money,” Realmuto said on Monday. “It’s just not worth it.”

When asked to clarify his response, Realmuto said Friday that his comments about his salary were the only thing he’d wished he had rephrased.

“The money comment is the one thing I could have said a little different,” he said. “I wasn’t necessarily stating that the amount of money was little. I didn’t know what the amount of money I was missing was. I was more thinking about the fact that I was missing two games’ worth of checks in a 162-game season. That was a small amount compared to how many games we play.

“I was never even intending for the amount to get out there. That’s something personal to me. But it is what it is.”

When asked if he was aware of the blowback he was receiving online for his comments, Realmuto said he received many messages of support for speaking his mind and defending his choice to remain unvaccinated. He said that while he singled out Canada in his comment on Monday, he was not trying to make a political statement, and was simply speaking from his own personal experience.

Realmuto did not address the clubhouse before the Phillies left for Toronto. He said he did not feel as if he had to.

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“I got nothing but absolute support from every person here,” he said. “Zero reason to say anything.

“You have to be able to separate the two. For me, my personal life is separate from my professional life, which is the baseball team. Obviously, I care a lot about these guys ... And I want to win as much as anybody. But when it comes down to personal decisions, I’m not necessarily factoring in that as much as I am my own family and my life.”

The Phillies reinstated right-handed reliever Connor Brogdon from the COVID-related injured list and left-handed reliever JoJo Romero from the 60-day injured list on Friday afternoon. Interim manager Rob Thomson said that the plan is to use both pitchers in low-leverage situations to ease them in. He added that Romero will be used in lower-leverage situations than Brogdon, since he has been out for longer while recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery.

Starter Ranger Suárez (lower back spasms) will likely be available to start on Saturday in Miami, Thomson said. He added that the last bullpen session by Zach Eflin (right knee bruise) went well, and if he comes out of his next session well, the Phillies might put him in a simulated game soon.

Third baseman Alec Bohm, who dislocated his left ring finger in St. Louis, has been in Miami since Tuesday. A Phillies trainer came with him and helped him manage the swelling in his finger. Bohm hadn’t been doing any work over the last few days but started to take swings on Friday off the curveball machine and said it felt “tolerable.” He is listed as day-to-day, but Thomson said Bohm would be available to pinch hit on Friday and could get a start as soon as Saturday.

Jean Segura (broken right index finger) said he is hitting off a tee. He will be activated off the 60-day injured list on Aug. 3 but could go on a rehab assignment while he’s still on the injured list. The second baseman said the team will reevaluate him after the All-Star break. There’s no timeline for his return, but Segura doesn’t think he’ll need long to get back into the swing of things.

“I think it’s about getting the feeling back in my finger,” he said. “I know it’s not going to feel 100% this year, but I don’t think you need to be 100% to play a baseball game. ... The most difficult thing will be my timing. I spent two months not seeing live pitching. I just want to see pitchers, and as soon as I see a couple pitchers, I’m ready to go. I’m not one of those guys that need much playing time.”