The Phillies Will Be Fine Without JT Realmuto | WIP Daily

welcome on in WIP daily Joe jilo with you appreciate everyone listen subscribe and F the podcast Tucker will join me in a few minutes he's back from his trip to London we'll get his thoughts on that trip and the fills and uh and checking them out over at the London series which I thought just was a great job by Major League Baseball but yesterday good news on the field Philly's win wheeler is incredible it's just like the most under unassuming star in in maybe all sports but certainly Philadelphia Zack will just rolls and just dominates and makes it look so easy schwarber June actually started yesterday not on June 1st so schwarber hits a pair of home runs and the fillers get a nice win last night up at fway Park gets a you a pretty average Red Sox team but the story was before the game and that's JT realmuto we we heard the news right at the end of the midday show yesterday head of for miniscus surgery and it's a major blow let's just call it what it is it's a major blow to the Phillies because JT Ruto based on his backups based on how much he plays based on how good he is relative to other catchers you know he's not the best catcher anymore in baseball but he's certainly still probably a top five or six catcher in baseball it's a blow to the Phillies there's no question about it so let's get into how big of an issue this is what they could do in the meantime how long it'll be out potential trade options if they want to go that route but my first thought is they're going to be okay I know this is one of those things where it's like uh oh and you start kind of adding up the injuries they've now had over the past couple months and you look at the lineup they threw out there last night which really was just rescued by some poor defense by the Red Sox and a couple bombs by Kyle shrier wasn't like they hit the cover off the ball last night and you say are they going to be okay and my thought is yes the Phillies are going to be okay for a couple reasons one there's I'm not panicking here J JT is a tremendous player and one of the most important players but let let's not lose focus on the the big picture here number one this team has a lot of experience in the last few years getting through long-term injuries from Stars they they just do Bryce Harper in 202 22 ree Hoskins for the entire season last year Trey Turner so far this year that's three years three of their better players all Miss extended periods Bryce it was couple months right when he got his his hand broken or his finger brok thumb broken on the pitch by Blake snow in late June came back in late August they got through the entire summer without Bryce Harper and were in position to do what they did in October last year ree Hoskins was taking from them and didn't play an inning didn't take an at bat the entire season they made it to game seven of the NLCS and actually won more games than they won the year before and then this year so far Trey was having what you could be considered a bounce back certainly offensively s about 340 and you know looked more of the player that they thought they signed them the year before taken out of the lineup suddenly with the hamstring injury this team hasn't missed a beat and offensive shortstop has been I'd say better than it was with Trey or if not better very comparable uh when you add all the numbers together probably an Ops in the the 800s and Trey was an Ops in the 800s almost a negligible difference right like barely anything you notice because they had de now this will be a little more challenging but the Phillies will get through this they have a tremendous team led by a tremendous pitching staff now you do have to factor that JT's a part of that pitching staff he's a big part of the game planning and the defense back there so you know you lose Trey you lose ree you lose Bryce or you lose whoever and you say well we'll still pitch our way to victories and I think they'll still do that but you can make the point that obviously real Muto is a big part of of why they're such a good pitching staff though last night Zack Wheeler went out and did his thing and pitched well I just there's not one offensive player and schwarber may be a unique one and obviously Harper because he's their best one but that I'm going to lose a lot of sleep over five or six weeks absence to because this team isn't built and they don't play to offense I I know they still rank near the top in Major League Baseball and offense I I don't look at them that way I said in early April I thought they were missing a bat I thought this is closer to an average offense that a great offense we'll see where it finishes I they could finish number one on offense and that looks silly I still think they're going to end up you know somewhere in the seven to 10 range and runs scored I don't think they're a great great offense I think they're going to win and they're going to win over a 100 games because of a tremendous pitching staff because of four or five lockdown relievers two of which belong in the All-Star game with Str and Offman and a starting rotation that four out of five five nights you just expect zero after zero after zero and and the top three in the rotation uh someone posted a stat last night uh that where I saw if you add the numbers up for wheeler and and Suarez and Nola and you kind of just look at those three this season together it's like 250 Innings two low two er a whip under one and I looked at the numbers and I'm like that's that's Justin Verlander when he won the MVP like the Phillies are getting three out of five nights when you add the production together MVP pitching MVP pitching not just sa young MVP pitching so I'm not going to lose sleep over losing a good player and a big bat for five or six weeks or four weeks whatever it's going to be because they pitch the Phillies could win a lot of games over the next month three to2 they can win a lot of games four to2 four to one the way they did last night so that's one you know one reason is this is a pitching team two they've gotten through a lot of these kind of injuries now all that being said JT one of their more Irreplaceable players the drop off between JT and the next guy is significant I mean it just is and you know Marsh you know they're gonna what they have now at the backup catcher Rafael marshan coming up to be this number two and Garrett St to be the number one it's not great I mean it's not it really it's a defensive Duo that any offense they get out of that position is going to be it's going to be a bonus but like I don't expect much I mean if those two combined to hit to to post a 580 Ops over the next month I I would be thrilled with that I mean that that that would be slightly above roas production I'd be thrilled with that now you start to look at the lineup and you say h you know it's it's gets thinned out now I think it's important to note that Trey Turner is due to come back very soon whether it's this weekend in Baltimore or it's the beginning of next week back at home looks like he's about to come back and there's not going to be a rehab asignment he's turning down that option as a veteran he can so you know borrowing something very unforeseen in the final stages of his ramp backup you know he's going to be back in the lineup and slide in the number two spot so it's this weird thing where they're not going to be whole for a long period of time this season but the timing of the injuries actually kind of works out a little bit that JT is going to get this surgery now and then you know Turner will arrive back to take that number two spot in the order and they need him I mean they need Trey to come back and at least hit the way JT has because you look at the rest of the lineup casianos you never know what you're getting bom's numbers have cratered since the beginning or since the end of April I mean his Ops was over a th000 and now look at it it's about to you know it's about 800 I mean we're close to dipping under 800 that that means in May and June it's gone way down so they need treyb back but I I add it all together I think they'll get okay game calling okay you know good enough defense I don't think stubs is a poor Defender he's just he's just small I think his strike zone is smaller compared to JT and it's pitch have to adjust but I think stubs calls a fine game Martian has been looked at as a defensive catcher his whole life and that's why he's had had some Prospect pedigree they're getting Trey back they're used to this in terms of losing players and let's not lose sight of this they have a 10 game lead in the National League East 10 games that is an enormous cushion if they do over the next month and deasi said yesterday it's going to be a month for JT Ruto the allstar breaks five weeks away I'd be surprised if we saw JT before the allstar break bringing him back you know right at the at the early end of that time frame right before the All-Star break feels a little silly it doesn't make as much sense to me I think they'll slow play this thing and we'll see him hopefully right after the allstar break you know six weeks or so from now that that makes more sense to me so can they get through this yeah and even if the Phillies play you know they they've played about you know 700 baseball this entire season if they play more like 600 580 590 baseball over the next 30 something games without JT and against some of the tougher teams going to see they will see Atlanta who stinks right now but Atlanta should figure it out at some point they'll see the Dodgers in this mix they'll see the Cubs who have been kind of up and down you know they'll see obviously the Orioles this weekend which will be a major challenge so they'll see some better teams here but if they play 590 or 600 baseball that's fine because they have a 10 game lead the Braves since they won the first two games there have been barely over 500 for two months they barely have outscored their opponents over the last two months they have they've scored the least runs in baseball since the end of April I mean like the Braves are mess right now so are the Braves going to have some life here because JT's out and the Phillies might have a little bit of a bumpy patch maybe maybe maybe the Braves pick up two or three games over the next month again the Phillies would be up eight or seven games at the All-Star break that that's totally in a good space so I I'm not panicking all now if this was a bigger issue if this was the kind of surgery that could jeopardize JT season that's a different story because I think it'd be very challenging to try to go in the playoffs and win big games without JT real Muto now there is one other option and we'll we'll give uh we'll bring on Tucker to talk about his thoughts on JT and also uh the trip to London he went on had seen the Phils out there there is the option of the Phillies adding to the position they don't have to sit on stubs and and Martian and just say yeah go ahead go get them guys no they could go get a catcher now there's not many teams I believe in mid June that are ready to give up I think I saw this morning 25 of the 30 teams are within four games of a playoff spot that's what happens when you have you have all these playoff teams and wild cards that nobody's really buried especially in the NL where you know 500 is probably going to be that last wild card or right around there 82 83 wins anybody with any sort of pulse could feel like they've got a shot right now so it's going to be difficult to challenge to pry a catcher away from any team that feels like they have a shot so there's probably a small handful of teams and how many of those teams have catchers you want or backup catchers you want you know the pool is probably thin the one guy that that makes some sense and he's actually hit against the Phillies over the years Jacob Stallings hit the home run off Alvarado a few weeks ago in Colorado former pirate former marlin good defensive uh Game caller uh I I think he's a solid backup catcher certainly an upgrade over stubs so you I'm sure the filliers could trade for Jacob Stallings tomorrow if they want I mean what the Rockies holding on to him for and then you'd have an option when JT gets back of choosing between Stallings and stubs I think they could do that it would make them a slightly better team the next few weeks if there's one big swing and this is a bigger picture thing down the stretch if they think JT needs maybe some DH days or can only play half the time to kind of ramp himself back up before the playoffs there's a player in Toronto the Blue Jays probably on the verge of becoming a seller the next week Dalton varo just keep that name in mind very unique player he's a former catcher who's now become a gold glove caliber outfielder but that catching history is in him it was only a couple years ago it wasn't like eight years ago like Kyle schwarber Bryce Harper when he was an amateur D VAR used to catch and play The Outfield now he's just been an outfield last two years for the Blue Jays but he's a hitter he's a he's a good offensive player I I don't know could he go back to catching half the time and then it almost solves both of your issues down the stretch of the Season into the playoffs a good power bat for the lineup that could probably end up in left field for the postseason or right field or Center probably play all three and then also give you a hedge of Catcher if JT needs half the days off in August and September to preserve himself that's a name that I I find interesting I don't know if he's available I don't know if the Blue Jays are actually going to sell and it would cost a good amount but that's like maybe possibility if they want to get creative to uh to fix this you know situation or help the situation down the stretch big picture I'm not panicking here Tucker it's it's a blow I mean JT not being around for you know four five six weeks as a blow I think they're going to be okay though the 10 game lead is an amazing cushion it's unbelievable and I looked it up last night because you think back to the the last great run of success this franchise had you know how many times did they lead the division by 10 games the answer is once it was in September of 2011 when they finally got over that hump other than that I actually uh someone else tweeted out this morning the only time that they've LED this early in the season was on June 11th 1993 was the last time they had a 18 10 game lead in The Division I think before the All-Star break it's it's unbelievable what they've done and when you look at at jeruto maybe finding his replacement I just don't know if it's worth it right like finding an upgrade to backup catcher where you have marshan and stubs are pretty much gonna platoon I think I think Rob Thompson said they're pretty much just going to go every other game flip them back and forth and and see what works I just think it's going to cost too much for a guy that when JT mut returns he's just not going to play right that's why they've been able to get away with having Garrett stubs at at the backup catcher position maybe someone like Dalton varo would make sense because he can play Outfield it's the son of Gary varo former Philly he's named after Darren Dalton so like on a semantics uh you know it's a little sentimental maybe bringing Dalton Baro in but I just think if you're GNA replace his off it's going to come from the guys who are already here right Trey Turner coming back Brandon Marsh coming back maybe casianos or Alec Bowmer Bryson stot who's been pretty terrible for the last you know four or five weeks maybe they kind of Step Up but I mean even last night and just just a methodic win the way they do it um they they kind of make the routine seem spectacular every night Kyle schorer hit two home runs Zack Wheeler threw seven Innings and they take him out because Matt Strom needs work like it wasn't like he was laboring he just it was his time to go hit the showers and we'll move on I mean what this team has done so far feels weird saying hey you lost a guy that UT out is the best catcher in baseball and it's okay Garrett stubs will hold it down but at this point that's what this team has done now through the first you know two and a half months of the Season yeah and I remember a similar thought when Turner went down it was like uh oh and then all they've done is Win sense I mean that's that's who they are that that's what the Phillies have been the entire season they're going to be fine I mean they're going to be okay here if they were up one in the division or three in the division that's a different story but they have a cushion here that's an incredible statistic on the last time they held a lead this big 1993 at this same date uh in the NL East that that's a lot I I I'm trying to guess who that was over probably maybe the Montreal Expos may have been the team that was chasing them in 93 um and and maybe 10 games behind at that point but whatever I mean that's a remarkable remarkable stat the Phillies are going to be fine JT get the surgery come back Allstar break his a little extra buffer there no Panic on the Phillies because this team is just that good and when you pitch this well every night you could get away with some dead spots in the order which obviously catcher's going to be over the next month or so appreciate listen subscribing following WIP daily we'll talk soon