Voting for the National Baseball Hall of Fame is underway, with writers releasing their ballots and fans discussing which players should be inducted in 2024.
Although several previous Phillies players will be eligible to compete for Cooperstown as part of this ballot, this time of year is ideal for projecting future Hall of Fame elections and which current players may receive enough votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to qualify for the 75% cutoff.
Trea Turner may be headed to Cooperstown, two-time National League MVP Bryce Harper is already a lock, and if Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola have successful seasons ending their careers, they may have a case. On this Philadelphia team right now, though, one of the more intriguing possible situations would be catcher J.T. Realmuto, who was the finest backstop in MLB for a while but is now a really weak catcher.
Realmuto, 32, began his major league career in Miami and has been a member of the Phillies since 2019. He has ten years of major league experience. During his stint in the big leagues, he collected 33.3 WAR with a 112 OPS+, recorded 1,136 hits and 154 home runs, won three Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves, and was selected to three All-Star teams. Realmuto outhit his peers with excellent framing and throwing, and he won the title of “best catcher in baseball” in 2018. Realmuto started to set himself apart from other major league backstops in 2018.
Realmuto put himself squarely in the star-level productivity category from 2018 to 2022 with his 20.3 WAR,.814 OPS, and 119 OPS+ (keep in mind that 2020 was only a 60-game season). In 2022, he had his greatest season and placed sixth in the NL MVP voting with a 6.5 WAR total, a.820 OPS and 130 OPS+, 22 home runs, 26 doubles, and 21 stolen bases.
Over the course of those five seasons, Realmuto was more dependable, resilient, and productive than any other catcher. Younger catchers Will Smith and Adley Rustchman, who seem to have overtaken the Phillies’ veteran backstop this past season, rose to prominence before Realmuto, with catchers like Buster Posey, Jonathan Lucroy, and Yasmani Grandal on the decrease.
Realmuto’s overall play fell short of those of the best, most valuable catchers in the majors, despite the fact that he was the best in the game for that little period of time. This poses a challenge to his potential Hall of Fame candidacy. Realmuto probably needs to push for more MVPs at this point in his five-year career to have a stronger case for Cooperstown. Posey and Joe Mauer, who had his debuts prior than Realmuto but had comparable shorter primes, are players who will have a significant impact on future votes. They were MVP winners and the best players in the game during their peak. Realmuto’s résumé doesn’t quite measure up to that.
Realmuto’s best route to Cooperstown would be to follow the path of former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, since he has a career WAR that is roughly 20 wins behind the average Hall of Fame catcher (56.3). Although Molina never reached his peak like Realmuto did, his 19 years of success as a player and his team’s success will probably earn him a plaque in the Hall of Fame. Catchers don’t often age well, of course, but Realmuto has already shown that he is not like most catchers. Since turning thirty-one, he has participated in at least 134 games in each of the previous three seasons. As he gets closer to 20 seasons in the majors, continuing to play and contribute could strengthen his Hall of Fame case. It wouldn’t hurt to have some more team success to go along with the postseason experiences he has already experienced.