August 23, 2025
Denis Poroy/Imagn Images
After a cold start to 2025, J.T. Realmuto has emerged as the Phillies' best option at cleanup hitter.
If they only had a legit cleanup hitter, imagine what the Phillies could do?
That was basically the biggest question about the Phillies' offense for much of the season, as a lineup that routinely started with Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper – each with on base percentages above .350 – labored through long stretches of being ineffectual, often lending little support to a pitching rotation that ranks among MLB's best.
The scariest thought was the Phillies in the postseason and Harper routinely drawing intentional walks as pitchers worked around the top three to face the struggling back six.
But the Phillies appear to have finally found the right man to protect Harper from the four hole, as J.T. Realmuto's hot streak that actually started in June has really picked up into July and August.
At this point, he's scorching, and not surprisingly, the Phillies' offense has been among MLB's best since the All-Star break. The Phillies have scored MLB's fourth-most runs since the break going into Saturday's action, second-most in the National League.
Realmuto, who clubbed his third homer in the past four games Friday in a 5-4 loss to the Nationals, is showcasing his rediscovered power stoke at an ideal time, as Bryson Stott has also heated up this month (.365 batting average in August) and as Brandon Marsh continues to rebound from his disastrous April in his platoon role.
“I would say this year, this is definitely the best I've felt seeing the ball for sure," Realmuto told reporters after Friday's game, when his go-ahead homer in the seventh inning was spoiled by Jhoan Duran's first blown save as a Phillie. "I just feel like I'm getting my good swing off more often than not.”
How hot has Realmuto been?
Entering Saturday's game against the Nationals, Realmuto is on a six-game hitting streak with 10 hits in that stretch. He's raised his batting average 10 points in the span, up to .279. Only Trea Turner and Alec Bohm have a higher season-long batting average among Phillies hitters.
In the past seven days, Realmuto has the second-highest batting average, second-highest on-base percentage, best slugging percentage, most homers, and fourth-most RBIs in the team's batting order. His slugging percentage is a ridiculous 1.000, with 19 total bases in 19 at-bats.
Here's how Realmuto compares to other Phillies batters over the past seven days:
| PLAYER | BA | OBP | SLG | HR | RBI |
| J.T. Realmuto | .474 | .525 | 1.000 | 3 | 5 |
| Kyle Schwarber | .280 | .367 | .560 | 2 | 8 |
| Bryce Harper | .333 | .414 | .583 | 2 | 7 |
| Trea Turner | .552 | .581 | .793 | 1 | 8 |
| Nick Castellanos | .412 | .444 | .706 | 1 | 1 |
| Max Kepler | .313 | .313 | .564 | 1 | 2 |
Realmuto, of course, is in the last year of the five-year, $115.5 million deal he signed in 2021 after the Phillies let him first test the free-agent waters. It's not uncommon to see players have breakout seasons in contract years, but Realmuto's surge comes after he played just 99 games last season thanks to a midseason knee surgery and slashed just .266/.322/.429, causing concerns that he was no longer one of the game's top dual-threat catchers as an offensive weapon and defensive stalwart.
Realmuto really struggled to start 2025, batting just .237 in March/April, followed by .205 in May. On the last day of May, Realmuto was slashing just .222/.293/361 and had just four homers and 21 RBIs.
Now, he's up to .279/.333/.415 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs – maybe not the kind of prototypical cleanup hitters stats, but perfectly fine given the production the Phils are getting from the first three batters in their order, and helped by some recent surges from Max Kepler, Marsh and Stott.
Arguably the most important part of Realmuto's second-half emergence is that he's giving the Phils protection for Harper as a right-handed batter that they weren't getting from Bohm or Nick Castellanos, and he's been one of their best hitters against right-handed pitching, which will be critical in the postseason.
Here's a look at Realmuto in the cleanup spot compared to Castellanos and Bohm:
| PLAYER | SLASH LINE | HR | RBI |
| J.T. Realmuto | .299/.365/.481 | 3 | 7 |
| Alec Bohm | .197/.266/.324 | 3 | 9 |
| Nick Castellanos | .237/.279/.381 | 5 | 27 |
Castellanos has more RBI but also has 194 at-bats from the four hole, while Realmuto and Bohm each have fewer than 80.
Here's how they compare against right-handed pitching:
| PLAYER | SLASH LINE | HR | RBI |
| J.T. Realmuto | .304/.362/.444 | 8 | 35 |
| Alec Bohm | .283/.328/.380 | 11 | 40 |
| Nick Castellanos | .259/.293/.413 | 5 | 31 |
Again, Castellanos has more at-bats than Realmuto and Bohm, but Realmuto's slash line is far superior, and exactly what the Phillies need now and gong into the postseason.
The only question is: Can he keep this up?
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