J.T. Realmuto is heading to the IL as he gets set to undergo knee surgery, and while the team did not disclose a potential timeline, meniscectomy procedures can typically take six weeks to return from.
With Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh also on the IL, Jack Fritz is sounding the alarm that the Phils’ magical season so far could be in peril.
“Who the hell is catching? [Garrett] Stubbs??” Fritz said. “It’s such a good year. They’re 25 games over .500, nine games up in the division. This is awful…he plays all the time pretty much, and now we’re dealing with a situation, you can argue that Garrett Stubbs isn’t even a major leaguer.
“I don’t think we’re gonna love six weeks of watching Garrett Stubbs as the primary catcher.”
Fritz is worried that the dropoff in offensive production will hurt the lineup for the next six weeks, while Spike is worried that the Phillies may not see a fully healthy Realmuto for the rest of the season.
“I’m worried about longer than six weeks,” Spike said. “You’re talking about a guy who is on the other side of 30, whose job every single day is to squat. A position that obviously puts pressure on the knee.
“This is potentially longer than a six-week thing. He could come back, but he’s gonna be dealing with this all year I think.”