One of the expected Phillies offseason moves is official:

Marchan is out of options, so he starts the season backing up J.T. Realmuto while Stubbs goes down to Lehigh Valley. Marchan turned 26 last month and got some run with the Phillies in 2024, playing 17 games in a backup platoon with Realmuto injured and on the shelf. He slashed .294/.354/.549 in 56 plate appearances and was sent back to the IronPigs in July when Realmuto returned.

The Marchan vs. Stubbs thing became a hot button issue on social media in 2024. Everybody had an opinion on this. Stubbs became the target of fan ire for a a few reasons, with the more disgruntled end of the spectrum asking why a backup catcher and clubhouse DJ had a roster spot after jinxing the Phillies the year prior with some comments about jumping in the Diamondbacks’ pool that they absolutely hated. They felt like Marchan was the better player and deserved to stay in the big leagues, while Stubbs should go down.

On the other end of the spectrum, you had a portion of fans who thought it made sense for Marchan’s continued development to get playing time in Lehigh Valley. Once Realmuto came back, neither Stubbs nor Marchan was going to see much of the field anyway, so the thought was that Marchan could finish his 2024 in Triple A and come up in 2025, which is what ended up happening. Stubbs and Marchan both played reasonably well spelling Realmuto last year, though Marchan has more power and logged four extra-base hits during that Phillies run. He’s five years younger than Stubbs and I think everyone knew he’d claim the backup job at some point.

The argument itself was a snapshot for the state of the Phillies and the eroding status quo. It was getting a little stale, and Stubbs’ inclusion on the roster became this focal point for fans to channel that energy. The argument itself was somewhat overblown though, because Realmuto has started all 34 postseason games the Phillies have played since 2022 and here we were spending all of this time and energy talking about the backup catcher. It doesn’t matter if it’s Marchan or Stubbs, because they aren’t going to play in the postseason. J.T., of course, is now in his mid-30s and not getting any younger, so you’ll need to manage him more during the regular season, but if they do it properly then the backup catcher won’t sniff the field in October. Then it becomes a question of how many games the backup catcher helps you win in the regular season, which we will find out soon enough.