The Phillies’ tough start might be overshadowed by the Mets’ dismal opening to 2026, but the rival National League East squad is facing some really hard times of its own.
And things got a little tougher on Wednesday.
Philadelphia placed catcher J.T. Realmuto on the injured list with back spasms while Garrett Stubbs was summoned from Triple-A in a corresponding roster move.
Realmuto exited Saturday’s game against the Braves early with back tightness and then sat out the next two contests. The three-time All-Star did return Tuesday night in a loss to the Cubs, going 0-for-4.
The 35-year-old signed a three-year, $45 million contract in the offseason to return to the City of Brotherly Love and has been one of the more productive players on an underachieving roster.
He’s hit .259/.344/.352 with a league-average 100 wRC+ to give the Phillies some solid offense from the catcher position.
And while Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are hitting like you’d expect, a lot of the Phillies’ other regulars are struggling with the team mired in a seven-game losing streak.
Adolis Garcia (80 wRC+), Trea Turner (78 wRC+), Bryson Stott (46 wRC+) and Alec Bohm (10 wRC+) —all of whom have at least 65 plate appearances — have failed to do much in the batter’s box.
Only the 12-game slide from the Mets (7-16) has kept the Phillies (8-15) from falling into the NL East basement, though they lead the Amazin’s by just one game.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters Tuesday that he is not looking to remove manager Rob Thomson from his post. Simply put, he said the team just hasn’t played up to par.
“We just haven’t played very well. It’s really every portion of our game,” Dombrowski said. “There’s been some individual players that have done fine, by all means, who are doing well. As a group, I don’t think any part of our team has excelled: offensively, pitching-wise, starting pitching-wise, defensively.”
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