What’s the Phillies’ plan if J.T. Realmuto moves on? Here are some options.

As the free agency dominoes continue to fall this winter, the one representing catcher J.T. Realmuto’s future has remained upright.

While fan attention has mostly turned to the Phillies’ interest in free agent infielder Bo Bichette, with whom team officials met on Monday, there is still a glaring hole in the Phillies’ lineup at the catching position.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has said repeatedly over the offseason that bringing back Realmuto, who has backstopped the team since 2019, remains a top priority. And that isn’t just the sentiment in the front office. Shortly after Kyle Schwarber signed his own five-year extension in December, he shot a text over to Realmuto to try to coax him to do the same.

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“He’s one of the best catchers in the game,” Cristopher Sánchez said in September. “We’re basically nothing without him.”

Five years ago, when Realmuto signed his last contract with the Phillies, they didn’t come to an agreement until Jan. 26. But if both sides don’t ultimately reach a deal this time, what happens at catcher?

Here’s a breakdown of the Phillies’ options behind the plate if they don’t reunite with Realmuto:

Going into the 2025 season, the Phillies anticipated giving Realmuto, who will be 35 in March, more time off to prioritize his health. In spring training, manager Rob Thomson even floated the idea of Realmuto seeing some time in left field, since the designated hitter spot was taken by Schwarber.

That suggestion never went anywhere. And in fact, rather than cut back, Realmuto played 134 games in 2025 and avoided spending any time on the injured list. Of those games, 132 were behind the plate, which tied him with 26-year-old Patrick Bailey of the Giants for most defensive games played as a catcher in the National League.

That also meant that backup catcher Rafael Marchán made only 30 starts.

The Phillies agreed to terms on 2026 contracts with Marchán and Garrett Stubbs this offseason and they are the only catchers on the Phillies’ 40-man roster. If bringing back Realmuto isn’t in the cards and the Phillies stick with the status quo, it would likely mean a large increase in workload for the 26-year-old Marchán, who also has an injury history.

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Marchán, a switch-hitter, had a .210 batting average and .587 OPS in 118 plate appearances last season. He was solid defensively in a small sample size, with a 96th percentile pop time of 1.88 seconds and catching +4 runners stealing above average.

In 2024, Marchán was limited to 55 games between the minors and majors due to lower back and shoulder injuries.

Stubbs, on the other hand, saw more consistent at-bats in triple A, where he spent most of the season before being called up in September when rosters expanded. He hit .265 with a .754 OPS for Lehigh Valley, where he also developed a rapport with top pitching prospect Andrew Painter.

However, Stubbs also hasn’t played more than 54 major league games in a season in his career. It would be a significant gamble for the Phillies to rely on a Marchán-Stubbs tandem without bringing in an external option.

Stubbs and Marchán are out of options in 2026, and the catching depth beyond them is thin. To bolster it, the Phillies signed Mark Kolozsvary to a minor league deal in December and René Pinto to a minor league deal last week. They likely join Paul McIntosh and Caleb Ricketts as depth options in the minors next season.

Kolozsvary, 30, played 30 games last season between the Boston Red Sox’ double-A and triple-A affiliates, and landed on the full-season injured list in June. He hasn’t made a major league appearance since 2023.

Pinto played 19 games for the Rays in 2024, hitting .214 with a .720 OPS. The 29-year-old spent the majority of last season in triple A between the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays organizations. He slashed .259/.309/.498 in 64 games.

Realmuto remains the top catcher available in free agency ranked by wins above replacement (4.0 in 2025).

Several other options are off the board, in what is overall a thin market for catchers this winter. Danny Jansen signed a two-year contract with the Rangers and James McCann signed a one-year deal with the Diamondbacks.

After Realmuto, Victor Caratini, 32, is one of the more established names remaining. The switch-hitter slashed .259/.324/.404 in 114 games for the Astros in 2025 with 12 homers. He posted 0.9 WAR in 2025.

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Jonah Heim is another veteran option after he was non-tendered by the Rangers in November, two seasons removed from an All-Star selection and Gold Glove winner in 2023. He hit .213 with 11 home runs in 124 games and posted 0.4 WAR last season.

Caratini and Heim would be downgrades from Realmuto in terms of defensive ability. Caratini averaged +4 blocks above average, but caught -4 runners stealing above average.

Heim averaged -1 blocks above average and caught -1 runners stealing above average.

The most likely path to find a catching replacement comparable to Realmuto’s level would be via trade. There’s already been some movement elsewhere, with the Nationals acquiring the Mariners’ top catching prospect Harry Ford in exchange for reliever José A. Ferrer in December.

There hasn’t been much buzz lately around the Orioles’ Adley Rutschman, who was the subject of trade rumors after Baltimore signed catcher Samuel Basallo to an eight-year extension in August.

Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias told reporters at his season-end news conference that “Adley’s the guy. He will be our front-line catcher.”

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The Twins have so far retained catcher Ryan Jeffers, who is entering his final season of team control. But dealing the 28-year-old could be a way for the Twins to recoup some assets as they continue building for the future after their trade-deadline fire sale in 2025. Jeffers hit .266 with a .752 OPS in 119 games last season.

Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson, 29, also becomes a free agent in 2027, and could be a trade chip for Cincinnati, which has some flexibility at the position. The Reds have locked up Jose Trevino as their backup and also claimed Ben Rortvedt off waivers from the Dodgers in November.

Stephenson hit .231 with a .737 OPS over 88 games in 2025.