Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto wins NL Gold Glove Award

Already an iron man, J.T. Realmuto is now tinged with gold.

Realmuto won the Gold Glove Award as the best defensive catcher in the National League, Rawlings Sporting Goods and Major League Baseball announced Tuesday before he led the Phillies into Game 3 of the World Series at Citizens Bank Park.

It marks Realmuto’s second Gold Glove (he also won in 2019) and the fifth time that a Phillies catcher has brought home the award. Bob Boone won the Gold Glove in 1978 and 1979, while Mike Lieberthal was the winner in 1999.

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“He’s really something,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Realmuto. “I don’t know where we’d be without him, to tell you the truth.”

Realmuto, 31, caught 1,131⅔ innings in the regular season, 127⅔ — or the equivalent of 14 games — more than any other major league catcher. Entering Tuesday night, he also had caught every inning of the postseason, bringing his total to 1,246⅔ innings.

Despite the workload, Realmuto threw out 41.5% of base stealers (27-for-65). On average, there were 1.82 seconds between a pitch hitting Realmuto’s mitt and the ball reaching the fielder at second base, the fastest “pop time” among all catchers, according to Statcast.

“To see what he’s done this year behind the plate, obviously one of the most athletic, in my opinion, if not the most [athletic] in the major leagues,” Aaron Nola said. “He helps me out a lot. I’m not the quickest to the plate, and he gets that ball down to second pretty quick.”

The Gold Glove is selected in a voting by each team’s manager and up to six coaches per team. Managers and coaches aren’t allowed to vote for their own players. There’s a statistical component, too. The SABR Defensive Index accounts for approximately 25% of the selection criteria.

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Three finalists are selected at each position. Among catchers, Realmuto topped the New York Mets’ Tomás Nido and Travis d’Arnaud of the Atlanta Braves.

“I’ve been around [Jorge] Posada, Russell Martin, Pudge Rodríguez — at the Yankees, we had a lot of really good catchers — and [Realmuto] is probably more athletic than anybody I’ve been around,” Thomson said. “Strong, tough, physical, you can’t tire him out. Being that athletic, he moves very well. He can move his feet, great arm strength, great release. As good as any catcher I’ve been around physically.”