Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto didn’t want his right knee injury to linger ‘in September and October’

J.T. Realmuto made a bet with Trea Turner when Realmuto was placed on the injured list on June 11 with right knee pain.

“I was joking that I was going to come back before him, just because it had been so long,” the Phillies catcher said Tuesday, “but he made it back before me, and made fun of me yesterday.”

Realmuto should return around the All-Star break. He underwent right knee meniscectomy surgery on June 12, and has been recovering since. It’s a procedure he’s quite familiar with. Realmuto had the exact same surgery on his left knee in 2019.

He remembers a quick recovery, and expects the same this go-around.

“They just go in where the tear is and there’s a small piece that they just cut out,” he said. “That’s why the recovery timeline isn’t too long. Because it’s a pretty simple procedure, and they don’t have to repair anything. They just cut a piece out.”

» READ MORE: How the Phillies’ Trea Turner tried to stay ready during his six-week stint on the injured list

The Phillies catcher expects to travel with the team in the meantime, and will help backup catchers Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchán with game-planning. He said his injury wasn’t the result of wear and tear, but rather a specific play during a May 4 game against the Giants at Citizens Bank Park. That was the day after Turner’s hamstring injury.

“This was an exact play that this happened on — it was the game with the Giants that was really wet outside,” Realmuto said. “I was rounding second base on the triple I hit and slipped a little bit. It happened on that play. This wasn’t necessarily a wear-and-tear thing, it was just kind of a freak thing that kind of popped a little bit one game.”

Initially, he hoped to play through it, but the pain didn’t go away, and it was affecting him during games. The Phillies’ having an eight-game lead in the National League East entering Tuesday’s game allowed some wiggle room.

“I think that was a lot of the thought into it,” Realmuto said. “I don’t want to be feeling this in September and October, and the way it was going, we knew we were going to need surgery eventually.

“So, I was hoping initially that I’d be able to make it to the end of the season, and after one week, I was like maybe I can make it to the All-Star break, and then it just kept getting a little worse and worse. We wanted to get it taken care of now so I’m not feeling it later in the season.”

» READ MORE: Phillies’ outfielder need looms large ahead of the trade deadline after Johan Rojas is sent to triple A

Realmuto added: “I feel good. I’ve been moving around quite a bit better than I was a few days ago. Was able to walk out of surgery and it’s been getting better every day, so it’s been good.”

He’s been impressed by Stubbs and Marchán’s play in his absence.

“Marchán did awesome,” Realmuto said of the backup catcher’s performance on Monday. “The hits are one thing, the hits are great, but watching him work with [Cristopher Sánchez] and the way he got him through that game, he threw the ball great, they mixed really well. He did a great job and Sanchy is not an easy guy to catch. He had some really good blocks, kept baserunners, threw the guy out, just had a really good game.”

Edmundo Sosa did some work in left field with first base and outfielder coach Paco Figueroa on Monday. The early results were good and he will continue to work with Figueroa in the outfield.

“Seemed fine,” said manager Rob Thomson. “Paco said it looked kind of normal. He’s an athlete, and it’s obviously — we can’t simulate game-type situations exactly. But taking balls off the bat, he looked comfortable.”

» READ MORE: Phillies’ Bryce Harper leads NL in All-Star voting; Alec Bohm tops at 3B

The Phillies transferred the rehab assignment for right-hander Luis Ortiz (left ankle sprain) from double-A Reading to triple-A Lehigh Valley. … The team also announced a trade, sending minor-league catcher William Simoneit to the Chicago Cubs for cash considerations.