Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto loses his cast, remains on track for opening day

J.T. Realmuto is still not hitting or throwing, but he made progress Friday and remains on track for the start of the season.

The catcher’s cast was removed from his right hand and his fractured thumb is now placed in a splint, allowing him to ramp up his rehabilitation program. Manager Joe Girardi said Realmuto is hitting with one hand and able to mimic a throwing motion without a ball. It’s progress.

“He’s on track for us,” Girardi said. “This was a good sign and we’ll just have to see how the rehab continues to go.”

Two days before Realmuto lost his cast, catcher Rafael Marchan tweaked his hamstring. Girardi said Marchan, one of three catchers on the 40-man roster, is likely out for 24 days.

If Realmuto is not ready on April 1, the 22-year-old Marchan would probably not be able to backup Andrew Knapp. If so, the Phillies would have to create a 40-man roster spot for Jeff Mathis, a 16-year-veteran who turns 38 this month.

The Phillies are already facing a roster crunch with their bullpen and the possibility of Odúbel Herrera breaking camp with the team. Moving Mathis onto the roster would present a new challenge.

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Realmuto fractured his thumb catching a bullpen session on the first day of camp when a pitch from Jose Alvarado hit his throwing hand. Despite wearing the cast, Realmuto continued to catch sessions.

He would catch a pitch and flip it with his glove to a coach who would throw it back to the pitcher.

“I gave him a hard time,” said Chase Anderson, who threw two perfect innings Friday in a 3-0 win over the Pirates. “I said ‘Oh man, you signed a new contract and you get your own personal throw guy.’ I knew he broke it, but I didn’t know how. J.T. is awesome. It’s another reason why I signed here, to throw to that guy. He’s the best in the game and I’m looking forward to it.”

If this week was any indication, the Phillies are going to have a tough decision to make when it comes to the back of their rotation. Anderson and Spencer Howard both logged perfect appearances Friday, a day after Matt Moore and Vince Velasquez each pitched two scoreless innings.

The Phillies have two vacancies in their starting rotation and this month is shaping up to be a good race. Anderson executed his fastball at the top of the strike zone Friday, striking out three of the six hitters he faced. Howard struck out two of the three batters he faced in his one inning of work and pumped his fastball at 95.9 mph, a tick higher than where it was last season.

“I faced him the other day and I thought it was lights out,” said Bryce Harper, who homered Friday in his first at-bat of spring. “He threw me a first-pitch fastball and I was like ‘Oh my gosh. There it is.’ You know what I’m saying? If he can prolong that over a couple innings and he can understand what his best pitches are and how he does it, I think he’s going to be great for us. We need that. I’m excited. It’s in there. We know it’s in there. We know he has the stuff. It’s just trying to develop it and getting it even better.”

Andrew McCutchen homered on Friday. ... Jhailyn Ortiz, a minor-league outfielder in mini-camp, tweaked his hamstring Thursday and is likely out for three to four weeks. ... Adonis Medina will start Saturday in Dunedin against the Blue Jays.