Legendary Phillies Catcher on Realmuto's Future

The Philadelphia Phillies were ecstatic when they landed J.T. Realmuto in a trade with the Miami Marlins back in February 2019.

This gave them one of the best catchers in baseball, coming off an All-Star selection and Silver Slugger award.

Realmuto took his game to the next level after joining the Phillies.

He's been selected to two more All-Star games, won two more Silver Sluggers, and took home his first Gold Glove award in 2019, before adding another in 2022.

The star affectionately earned the nicknamed "Best Catcher In Baseball" or "BCIB" by the local media who covers the team and Philadelphia fans alike.

It's been a great run with Realmuto behind the plate.

But, how much long does the now 33-year-old have left in him?

Paul Hagen of NBC Sports Philadelphia did a fantastic job of laying out that this age is normally when catchers across baseball history have started to decline.

"Hall of Famer Johnny Bench is considered one of the very best to ever strap on a pair of shin guards. He caught over 1,000 innings in 1979 for the eighth time in nine years. He was 31 ... and never came close to that admittedly arbitrary milestone again. Hall of Famers Gary Carter and Mike Piazza were 33 when they last spent at least 1,000 innings behind the plate in a season.

In case you were wondering, Rodriguez was 35 the final time he hit that benchmark.

Then there was 41-year-old Bob Boone, who caught 1,082 innings for the Royals in 1989."

The Phillies are hoping that Realmuto is closer to what Boone did in his career than Carter and Piazza.

Even getting two more years out of him like when Rodriguez caught over 1,000 innings at 35 would be a positive.

However, one of Philadelphia's former legendary catchers thinks that the BCIB has much more left in the tank.

"He's a guy who could catch until he's 40," Mike Lieberthal told Hagen.

For those racking their brains on who Lieberthal is, he holds the all-time record for most games caught in the history of the Phillies with 1,139.

As for why he thinks Realmuto can defy logic and catch until he's much later in his career, he says it has to do with his athleticism.

"He's fortunate because he's so athletic. He can run. It's more of an athletic position now than it was 20 years ago ... There are a few catchers in the league who are athletic, but probably not quite like J.T," he said.

If that truly is the case, then the Phillies can expect to have a much longer runway in preparation for when Realmuto does decide to hang it up so they can have a replacement ready to maintain the production at such an important position.