Phillies place J.T. Realmuto on 10-day injured list, recall Garrett Stubbs
No news is usually good news, and everything with the Philadelphia Phillies right now is bad news. The latest blow came Wednesday afternoon when the Phillies placed 35-year-old catcher J.T. Realmuto on the 10-day injured list with a lower back injury.
The Phillies, in a corresponding move, called up chief vibes officer Garrett Stubbs from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to split time behind the plate with Rafael Marchán while Realmuto is out. To make room for Stubbs on the 40-man roster, Max Lazar was transferred to the 60-day IL.
Realmuto has dealt with nagging back and foot injuries this season. He returned to the Phillies' lineup for Tuesday's 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs after missing two games with a back injury.
In 17 games, Realmuto is hitting .259/.344/.352 with one home run and a .696 on-base plus slugging percentage.
The Phillies re-signed Realmuto to a three-year, $45 million contract after they missed out on signing Bo Bichette.
Stubbs, once Realmuto's backup and Phillies director of fun and games, has been in Lehigh Valley for most of the past two seasons. Marchán won the backup job last spring training and did so again this year.
In 10 games with the IronPigs this season, Stubbs hit .289/.413/.632 with a 1.045 OPS while also playing third base and left field.
Marchán has appeared in nine games this year and struggled at the plate. The catcher is hitting .065/.094/.161 for a .255 OPS with just two hits, one of which was a homer, in 31 at-bats.
The Phillies have lost seven straight games and eight of their last 10 games. They're 8-15. While it's still April 22 and there are 139 games left, the Phillies are fourth in the NL East ahead of only the 7-16 New York Mets, who have lost 12 straight games.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski stood behind manager Rob Thomson before Tuesday's loss in Chicago.
