January 14, 2026

Is J.T. Realmuto more valuable to the Phillies than Bo Bichette?

J.T. Realmuto and Bo Bichette each potentially provide the Phillies with vastly different things. It might not be as simple a choice as you think.

By Evan Macy
PhillyVoice Staff

Kate Frese/for PhillyVoice

J.T. Realmuto is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.

There's a zero-sum choice the Phillies are being tasked with making, and it isn't an easy one.

With the J.T. Realmuto free agency decision dragging out, and the Phillies' successful meeting with Bo Bichette in the rearview, the team by all accounts only has enough room in their budget for one of the two.

Realmuto is 35, and few big league catchers have caught more MLB innings. He has an above average bat from the right side and slashed .257/.315/.384 last season. He had a 2.5 WAR in 2025. He's also an elite defender.

Bichette is 27, plays a solid shortstop, slashed .311/.357/.483 last season with a 3.5 WAR and is still entering his prime. He's going to cost more, but the benefits are obvious, right?

It seems like an easy decision on paper. But it's not.

Realmuto does more than just throw out the second-most runners in baseball (which he did in 2025) while hitting slightly above average in the middle-to-back portion of the batting order. He manages the pitching staff. And he does it better than almost anyone else.

Here's a look at the Phillies pitching staff's ERA when Realmuto catches, in contrast to other Phils catchers (mostly Rafael Marchan and Garrett Stubbs) since 2022:

Season	Realmuto ERA (rank)	Other ERA (rank)
2022	3.89 (16th)	4.27 (24th)
2023	3.97 (10th)	4.26 (18th)
2024	3.45 (1st)	4.46 (25th)
2025	3.76 (7th)	3.92 (15th)

There is a significant difference between the Phillies' ERA when Realmuto is catching and when other players do. So much so that in 2024, he had a better ERA than the best team in baseball had.

Several Phillies pitchers have broken out over that four-year span, including Cy Young runner up Cris Sánchez and current free agent Ranger Suárez. Zack Wheeler is better as a Phillie, in his 30s, than he was with the Mets in his 20s. Realmuto plays a big role in that.

He manages a pitching staff, frames pitches and helps call a better game than nearly anyone in the sport. And a lot of it is due to his preparation.

“J.T. is the most prepared catcher I’ve ever been around,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said in his season-ending press conference. “He spends hours watching video, making his own game plan, then matching it up with Caleb [Cotham] and the pitchers. You can’t put a number on that — it’s significant.”

Well, the Phillies need to put a number on it. Realmuto has yet to accept whatever financial offer the Phils have made him this offseason. It will certainly be less than the $23.8 million he made last season.

The biggest question is whether the gains offensively from adding Bichette will make up for the losses in both the catcher spot in the batting order and the catching's influence on the battery. It will also have to make up for the likely loss of Alec Bohm via trade to open up some extra cash and a spot in the infield for Bichette.

It's worth noting that Marchan, their current back up and potential heir to Realumto, has improved his catching ERA each season he's been making appearances in the majors. Perhaps he's learned enough to take the reins with minimal drop off.

But the available options in free agency — and you have to assume they'd be stressing defense and pitching management with a signing in concert with Bichette — don't really excite much.

• Jonah Heim is 30 with a career .225/.282/.371 slash line and 4.04 catching ERA.
• Gary Sanchez is 33, with a career .224/.309/.461 slash line — he has decent power — and a 3.97 career catching ERA.
• Mitch Garver is 35 with a career .233/.326/.440 slash line and a 4.21 career catching ERA.
• Elias Dias is also 35 with a career .247/.300/.383 slash line and ugly 4.94 catching ERA.
• Vincent Caratini is 32 with a career .244/.321/.371 slash line and 3.93 catching ERA.
• Christian Vasquez is 35 with a career .250/.299/.367 slash line and 4.14 catching ERA.