Garrett Stubbs has found himself a home, for now, on the Phillies roster

MIAMI — Garrett Stubbs knew this was coming.

Well, not exactly this. Did anyone have Stubbs starting a game in left field — with Adolis García in center and Felix Reyes in right — on their 2026 Phillies bingo card?

But with J.T. Realmuto poised to return from the injured list Saturday, Stubbs knew a roster move was coming. So, he flew his wife and infant daughter to Miami for the weekend, just in case it was his last in the majors.

It turns out Stubbs will stick around. The Phillies opted to keep him as a third catcher and super-utility player and designated seldom-used utility man Dylan Moore for assignment.

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“Yeah, I knew today was going to be a big day for me personally,” Stubbs said before finding out he’d start in left field because rookie center fielder Justin Crawford was scratched with a migraine. “[His family] is here right now. They came out during this stretch, honestly because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.

“I took a deep breath when I heard it from [interim manager] Don [Mattingly] that I was going to be on the roster."

Mattingly explained that he liked the idea of carrying a third catcher to free him to pinch-hit for light-hitting backup Rafael Marchán. He also plans to give Realmuto a few more days off than usual “to protect him from himself.”

Also, Stubbs runs well for a catcher and began playing multiple positions in spring training, including third base and left field.

“Stubby’s not a traditional catcher that can’t do anything else,” Mattingly said. “He can play second; he can play third; he can play left; he can steal a bag. He’s a good baserunner, a good bunter, all the things that that role’s bringing.

“That role is not a huge role. You’ve seen how much Moore played.”

Indeed, Moore appeared in 13 games, started once, got a total of 15 plate appearances, and went 0-for-12. The Phillies owe him approximately $1.2 million through the end of the season. Add it to the tab. They’re paying Nick Castellanos and Taijuan Walker a total of about $35 million to not play for them. Rob Thomson will also get paid through 2027.

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But the Phillies believe Stubbs gives them additional flexibility. He’s also involved in daily game-planning meetings with the starting pitcher, Realmuto and Marchán, and pitching coach Caleb Cotham.

The Phillies began moving Stubbs to other positions late in spring training after he returned from playing for Israel in the World Baseball Classic. If he had known sooner, he said he would’ve focused on learning third base with Matt Chapman and Alex Bregman, All-Star third basemen with whom he works out in the offseason.

“I’ll do that this next offseason,” he said. “For sure.”

The Phillies designated Stubbs for assignment at the end of spring training. He cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to triple A, where he made two starts at third base and two in left field, in addition to catching.

“It was definitely more time-consuming and more work,” Stubbs said. “But I’ve said it before: I’ll do anything to stay on a roster whether it was in triple A or here.”

Stubbs conceded that he felt anxious about his future.

“Oh yeah, I had Saturday marked on my calendar,” he said. “I’ve played this game long enough to know trying to play GM is a bad game to play leading up to a decision-making day.”

But now, Stubbs will get a chance to help the Phillies recover from a poor start, just as they did in 2022.

“I think that I’ve been able to contribute at a high level, both on and off the field, to where we’ve gotten to,” Stubbs said. “So, getting to be a part of that again is fun.”

Brandon Marsh wasn’t in the lineup after taking a pitch off the left elbow in the seventh inning Friday night.

X-rays came back negative, according to Mattingly, but Marsh still felt “sore.” After getting hit, he jumped up, sprinted to first base, and scored one batter later on Bryson Stott’s three-run home run before exiting the game.

“Obviously he got through it without any kind of fracture, or it’s a long-term [thing],“ Mattingly said. ”It’s really kind of at this point getting the inflammation out of there and [pain] tolerance. I don’t think it’ll be long."

Mattingly said Marsh might even be able to pinch-hit or pinch-run.

Felix Reyes initially was set to start in left field in Marsh’s place but moved to right after Crawford got scratched. García started in center field for the first time since 2023.

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Jhoan Duran, sidelined by a strained oblique muscle in his left side, threw a bullpen session Saturday. The star closer could face hitters in live batting practice or pitch in a game on a minor-league assignment before being reinstated from the injured list. ... Entering the weekend, the Phillies won 28 of 51 challenges with the new automated ball-strike system for a 54.9% success rate, 12th in baseball. They were most successful on catcher challenges (14-8) compared to batter- (13-14) and pitcher-initiated appeals (1-2). ... Jesús Luzardo (2-3, 5.50 ERA) is scheduled to start at 1:40 p.m. Sunday against Marlins righty Chris Paddack (0-4, 6.11).