That’s right. We’re doing some backup catcher discourse baby.
Before the season, the Phillies made the decision to name Rafael Marchán as the primary backup catcter to J.T. Realmuto and option Garrett Stubbs to Triple-A. It was a no-brainer move, as Marchán is out of minor league options, but Stubbs still had one. Therefore, this move allowed the team to keep both catchers in the organization and preserve some depth at a position where they didn’t have much. It also gave the Phillies the opportunity to give Marchán a longer look in the Majors to see if he could build off of his 2024 where he hit .294 with 3 home runs across 56 plate appearances in 17 games.
So far though, Marchán has not made much of that opportunity. He’s only appeared in 10 games but is just 4-25 (.160) with 4 strikeouts to 7 walks. To be fair, hitting isn’t really the job of a backup catcher. But Marchán hasn’t really played good defense either, as he has two passed balls and has only thrown out 2 of 8 runners attempting to steal. He’s even thrown the ball into center field on a few of those occasions but has only been officially charged with one error.
The primary job of a backup catcher is to handle the pitching staff. Marchán has primarily caught Aaron Nola this season, catching four of Nola’s eight starts prior to last night. In those four games, Nola has a 7.40 ERA and an opponent’s average and OPS against of .261 and .885 respectively. In five games where Realmuto has caught Nola including last night’s debacle, those numbers are a 4.97 ERA and .287 AVG with an .841 OPS. Marchán has only caught Cristopher Sánchez once in a game on April 6th, the lefty’s second start of the year. In that game Sánchez allowed 4 runs in 5.2 IP and surrendered two home runs to the Dodgers. It’s the most runs Sánchez has allowed in a start this year and the only time he’s allowed multiple home runs.
On the flip side, Marchán has caught Jesús Luzardo twice this year and Luzardo has a 1.29 ERA in those two games. Luzardo went seven innings in both starts and only allowed one run in each outing. He allowed 13 hits across those two starts, but he also collected 15 strikeouts. Two of Luzardo’s three starts of seven innings this year have been with Marchán behind the plate. Pitching splits by catcher aren’t a definitive sign of anything, especially in a such a small sample, but they are at least noteworthy.
Marchán had an adventure of a game yesterday in Game 1 of the doubleheader. He went 2-2 with a walk, was doubled up on a baserunning blunder in the third, almost made a critical baserunning mistake in the seventh that was overturned on review, and had a passed ball that put the tying run into scoring position with nobody out in the eighth.
It would be disingenuous to not point out that all of this is a small sample size. After all, we’re talking about 10 games and a measly 31 plate appearances. But small sample size is the name of the game with backup catchers, as they simply don’t play that much if the starter is healthy. It’s a tough job and an unfair one, but it’s reality.
So, with all of that in mind, what do you make of Rafael Marchán? Are you willing to give him more leeway to grow into his role? Are you disappointed that he hasn’t shown the ability to be a potential future starter? Has he been exactly to your expectations? Are you as tired about discussing the backup catcher position as I am?