"I'm not saying treat J.T. Realmuto like Joel Embiid" - Phillies insider stresses only Dave Dombrowski can ease star catcher's heavy burden in 2025

Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto missed a chunk of the 2024 regular season due to minor surgery to his knee. The veteran played only 99 games and that heavily impacted his production. As a solution, the Phillies management has discussed reducing his workload in order to keep him fresh and ready to go for the postseason.

On the Locked on Phillies podcast, host Connor Thomas agreed with the Phillies' forthcoming decision, albeit needing Realmuto's approval. The insider shared his skepticism that Garret Stubbs is not an apt substitute for the LSU alum. Therefore, Thomas put the onus on Dave Dombrowski, the president of baseball operations for the Philadelphia Phillies, to find a solution.

"One of the number one things that could help out J.T. Realmuto is Dave Dombrowski," said Thomas [13:18]. "If Dombrowski goes out and gets a backup catcher that you can play for 62 games, or even if it's like 50 games, and J.T. plays 112, that's totally fine. I think the mark should be somewhere between 100 and 115 games for J.T. Realmuto."

Thomas also compared Realmuto's situation to that of NBA superstar Joel Embiid who has been given rest days by his club when they have consecutive fixtures.

Thomas said that while J.T. Realmuto didn't have to miss every alternate game for the Phillies, altering the 33-year-old's total game time may help in the long run.

"One thing for sure that's not going to help him in 2025, and that's playing him every game and putting him out there every day and letting him get banged up more and more. Wear and tear on the knees, more playing time is not the answer for JT Realmuto.

"He is a guy where you need to mitigate his playing time. We talk about all the time in the NBA, load management. I'm not saying treat him like Joel Embiid, where he gets every other day off, but I am saying there needs to be a concerted plan for JT Rido in 2025 that involves the limiting of his games played," Thomas said. [14:05]

Rob Thomson certain J.T. Realmuto would need convincing

During the season-ending presser when Phillies manager Rob Thomson was unveiling the team's plans for 2025, he claimed that he knew he would have to have a conversation with Realmuto about his rest days.

“I'm not sure yet. He's a tough guy and he's a guy, like a lot of our guys, they want to play every day. I'll have to do some convincing I guess," Thomson said.

If Philadelphia can limit Realmuto to 100 games for the season, it would have to lock in its backup catcher. This season, Garrett Stubbs stepped up but batted only .207. Former top prospect Rafael Marchan got limited game time in the position but impressed with a .294 average.