J.T. Realmuto, Hall of Famer? Why the next three years could put the Phillies catcher in the discussion.

CLEARWATER, Fla. — J.T. Realmuto knocked a game-tying two-run double, took a foul tip off the jaw, then regrouped to crack a go-ahead home run in the 10th inning. And after all that, in one of the best games for a catcher in the 118-year history of the World Series, he leaned forward in his chair and made a confession.

“I’m honestly not sure how my body is going to respond,” he said that October night in Houston, “until the season is over.”

The toll came due a week later. After the Phillies bowed to the Astros, Realmuto went home and felt “a little more tired than I have been in the past,” he recounted recently. No kidding. He was behind the plate last year for 1,281⅔ innings, including all 150 in 17 playoff games, the largest catching workload since the Royals’ Salvador Perez in 2015.

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Adrenaline is like Advil for baseball players in the postseason. But once it wore off, Realmuto could feel every bump and bruise, every achy muscle. The fatigue was palpable.

Consider it confirmation that he is, in fact, human.

That isn’t always apparent. Realmuto is the most complete catcher in the majors and the first choice to catch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Four years into his Phillies tenure, with three seasons left on his catcher-record $115.5 million contract, he’s in the conversation with Darren Daulton and Carlos Ruíz for the best backstop in franchise history.

And if the next three years go as well as the last six did, well, it won’t be a stretch to begin wondering if Realmuto — who turns 32 on Saturday — is a Hall of Famer.

Hyperbole? Not necessarily. But it will hinge on longevity, and no position tests a player’s staying power more than catcher.

The most similar catcher to Realmuto through age 31, according to Baseball-Reference.com, is Carlton Fisk, who played until he was 45, never switching positions, and got elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000. The second-most similar: Jonathan Lucroy, a two-time All-Star who declined sharply at 32 and retired at 35.

Fisk and Lucroy represent extremes of the catcher aging spectrum. But Realmuto, a former wrestler and high school quarterback and power forward, possesses uncommon athleticism that has many rival evaluators and executives believing he’s built to sidestep the cliff that sneaks up on many catchers in their early 30s.

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“Absolutely,” said longtime former catcher A.J. Ellis, now a special assistant with the Padres. “He’s got the No. 1 prerequisite in that he loves the position. He loves being back there. He loves to compete. And I don’t think that’s going to leave him.”

In the last six years, including the pandemic-shortened 2020, from ages 26 to 31, Realmuto batted .273/.337/.471 with 154 doubles, 113 homers, and a 117 OPS adjusted for league and ballpark. ZiPS, a commonly cited projection system, pegs him at .253/.322/.430 with 73 doubles, 54 homers, and a 104 adjusted OPS over the next three years.

It would give Realmuto a comparable peak to the century’s two best catchers. Joe Mauer, who will debut on the Hall of Fame ballot this year, had an eight-year catching apex of .327/.410/.473 with 248 doubles, 90 homers, and a 139 OPS+. Buster Posey, Hall-eligible beginning in 2026, had an eight-year run of .309/.377/.475 with 224 doubles, 128 homers, and a 136 OPS+. In both cases, their peak spanned ages 23-30.

No catcher has started more games (883) or caught more innings (7,720) than Realmuto since 2015. None has amassed more wins above replacement, either (29.8, according to Fangraphs).

And Realmuto is trending upward.

Despite a poor April and May last year, he had the best season of his career, carrying the Phillies for most of the second half and finishing at .276 with an .820 OPS. He hit 22 homers, stole 21 bases (in 22 attempts), and joined Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez as the only catchers in the 20/20 club. Realmuto was the team’s best baserunner while shutting down opposing running games by throwing out 41.5% of basestealers.

“I’ve been around [Jorge] Posada, Russell Martin, Pudge Rodríguez, and [Realmuto] is probably more athletic than anybody I’ve been around,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Strong, tough, physical. You can’t tire him out. He’s really something.”

But while Realmuto is an ironman, he’s not bulletproof. He tore cartilage in his right knee in 2019, strained a hip flexor in 2020, and broke his right thumb in a freak injury while catching a bullpen session in 2021.

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History says it’s going to get more difficult. Last year, Realmuto became the 43rd catcher to make 500 plate appearances while playing at least 75% of the games behind the plate in his age-31 season. The group whittles to 29 catchers at age 32, 18 at age 33, 19 at age 34, and 12 at age 35.

And with the Phillies having finally busted through to the postseason, owner John Middleton intends on making it an annual occurrence, especially after signing star shortstop Trea Turner.

So, Realmuto tweaked his offseason training after the World Series. He gave his body more time to recover, staying out of the weight room for a few extra weeks and delaying his usual hitting and throwing progression. He said he felt back to normal by about Thanksgiving.

But the biggest change to Realmuto’s conditioning program came midway through last season. Whereas he used to take periodic days off from the weight room but do a more strenuous workout on days he didn’t catch, he followed the advice of Phillies strength coaches Morgan Gregory and Furey Leva and worked out every day for a shorter duration.

“At the end of every game, I’d go straight to the weight room, three exercises and get out,” Realmuto said. “It would take me 15 minutes. And I did it every single day. I felt stronger at the end of the season, not like my body was weaker and as torn down as I have in the past.”

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said his periodic check-ins with Realmuto last season would typically generate the same reaction.

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“He’d say, ‘I haven’t felt this good, per se, in a few years,’” Dombrowski said. “You’re always cognizant. But he’s such an elite athlete that I’m not sure why he would not be able to catch a significant number of innings and games. And he thrives on that, really.”

Realmuto played shortstop in high school in Oklahoma. The Marlins drafted him as an infielder. He didn’t get behind the plate until he was 20 years old in A ball.

Ellis, an 11-year major leaguer who played until he was 37, predicts Realmuto’s late start to catching might help him last longer.

Realmuto also catches with one knee down, an unorthodox stance that works for him because his athleticism enables him to block balls in the dirt without being in a traditional crouch. It lessens the strain on his ankles and hips.

Ellis compared Realmuto’s athletic ability to Martin, who started 118, 116, 117, 106, 113, and 119 games behind the plate from 2011 through 2016 (ages 28 to 33). But even Martin only made it to age 36.

“I think J.T.’s athleticism will help spawn even a longer career than another run-of-the-mill catcher could have,” Ellis said. “It’s only going to drive him to figure out new ways to continue to be productive.”

And if all else fails, Realmuto believes in the power of mind over matter.

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“To be honest, the actual thinking about catching more innings than anyone never really crosses my mind,” Realmuto said. “Because, in my head, that’s my job. I want to be here for my teammates. I want to catch as much as I possibly can while staying healthy and productive. That’s something I want to be able to do my entire career.”

Three more years of it, and it may be time to start thinking about the best active catcher in baseball in even grander terms.