The Phillies and Garrett Stubbs reached a deal for the 2025 season before Friday night's non-tender deadline, the club announced.
All that this really guarantees is that Stubbs, 31, will be with the team in Spring Training, not necessarily that he will be the primary backup to J.T. Realmuto in 2025.
In fact, that most likely scenario probably remains that Rafael Marchán will be the backup for Realmuto in 2025. He's out of minor league options, and impressed both offensively and behind the plate in 17 games a season ago.
With that said, Marchán has struggled to stay healthy. Stubbs gives the Phillies an insurance option if Marchán isn't healthy when it's time to set the Opening Day roster.
It will be interesting to see what the Phillies do with Stubbs if Marchán is indeed the backup to Realmuto to open the season. He actually has a minor league option remaining, so Stubbs could be sent to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and serve as organizational catching depth. That would seem a bit awkward given that Stubbs has been a prominent clubhouse fixture over the last three years, but who knows. It's also possible that another organization will trade for Stubbs to be their backup.
Stubbs hit .264 with an .812 OPS over 46 games in 2022, his first season with the Phillies. However, in the two seasons since, Stubbs has hit just .206 with a .558 OPS. With Realmuto entering his age-34 season, the backup catcher spot has become more important for the Phillies than it was a few years ago.
