After ‘Jordan Flu game,’ J.T. Realmuto returns after losing 6 pounds from illness that kept him in bed 3 days
"I can’t remember when I was that sick," said Realmuto, who expects to be back in the lineup on Tuesday.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — J.T. Realmuto felt great.
J.T. Realmuto felt lousy.
On March 10, the Phillies catcher hadn’t gotten a hit in nine days. He was 2-for-14 this spring, batting .143. Not the sort of start he’d hoped for coming off a season in which his OPS finished at .700, his lowest in a decade.
But that afternoon, fighting what he figured was a minor head cold, Realmuto played, anyway. He told manager Rob Thomson he wasn’t feeling well, but predicted great things for himself.
“You watch,” he told Thomson. “I’m gonna have the ‘Jordan Flu Game.’ ”
Realmuto was referring to Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals in Utah, where Michael Jordan, wracked with the worst possible flu-like symptoms, led the Bulls to a two-point win with 38 points in 44 minutes.
Sure enough, Realmuto shook off the illness and blasted a 395-foot home run off visiting Yankees pitcher Luis Gil. The ball left his bat at 101.8 mph and tied the score at 2 in the third inning. He’d reached on an error in the first inning and later singled in the fifth, so, after striking out six times in his first six spring games, he’d made contact in all three appearances.
» READ MORE: Bryce Harper one step away from winning a title after Team USA tops Dominican Republic to reach WBC finals
Realmuto felt great.
A few hours later he was in bed.
Realmuto felt lousy.
It turned out that, unlike Jordan, who had been food-poisoned by some Salt Lake City pizza, Realmuto had been fighting the actual flu. He spent the Phillies’ off day, last Wednesday, sweating through the sheets, and that’s where he stayed for the next three days.
“I couldn’t break the fever,” Realmuto said Monday.
Realmuto said he’d lost six pounds by Saturday, which might not sound like much for a 212-pound catcher, but it’s a lot of weight for a fitness freak who carries about 8% body fat. He stayed away from his family while he was ill, which kept them healthy, and he stayed away from his teammates until Sunday, which kept them healthy, too.
He reported for some light work Sunday then returned for a full workout Monday while the team traveled to Lakeland, Fla., to play the Tigers. He took batting practice in the cage off hitting coach Kevin Long, ran sprints on the back field, and said he will be back in the lineup Tuesday when the Twins visit.
“Feel a lot better,” he said as he strapped on his shin guards and headed to the catchers’ turf for a ball-blocking drill. “I mean, I can’t remember when I was that sick.”
The question, of course, is whether Realmuto can recapture the stroke he finally found last week.
“I felt good in the cage,” he said. “I just wanted to get my eyes tracking the ball again. We’ll see how it goes [Tuesday]. The good thing is, there’s enough time left here so I get my eyes tracking again.”
And, if he starts to struggle, he can just order some of that Utah pizza.
Hunter Pence's 368-day stint with the Phillies was a study in extremes. Acquired at the trade deadline in 2011 as the missing right-handed bat for a World Series contender, he got dealt a year later by an underachieving team. And with the Phillies in full-on crisis mode this week, Pence sits down with "Phillies Extra," the Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss how quickly a team's fortunes can change. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Previous episodes: Paco Figueroa | Gage Wood | Scott Boras | Brian Barber | Aaron Nola | Justin Crawford | Garrett Stubbs | Kyle Schwarber | Brad Keller | J.T.Realmuto
