Red-hot Realmuto is back to being all-around threat

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PHILADELPHIA -- J.T. Realmuto is back to being the usual all-around threat he’s been for the past decade.

He's commanding one of the best starting rotations in Major League Baseball. He leads all catchers in pop time behind the plate. He's seamlessly adjusted to catching flamethrowing closer Jhoan Duran on the fly.

And Realmuto has not just put his slow start offensively behind him, but he's been one of the hottest hitters across the Majors for nearly three months now.

Through the end of May, Realmuto was hitting just .222 with a .361 slugging percentage. Those marks both ranked last on the team among the eight players with at least 100 at-bats.

The baffling part, however, was that the right-handed-hitting Realmuto was struggling particularly against left-handers. It made little sense given not only the platoon advantage, but the fact that he had never struggled to hit southpaws previously.

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Yet Realmuto was hitting just .107 (6-for-56) against left-handers through the end of May. Since the start of June, however, Realmuto is hitting .305 (18-for-59) with a .475 slugging percentage.

So, what changed? Truthfully, not much.

Consider this: Realmuto's .143 slugging percentage against lefties before June was significantly lower than his .326 expected slugging percentage -- a number that is based on how hard he was hitting the ball and the type of contact he was making (ground ball, line drive, fly ball, etc.).

The .183-point difference between his actual slugging percentage and xSLG was the third-largest negative differential among 129 players with at least 50 plate appearances vs. lefties during that span.

"Honestly, there was quite a bit of bad luck involved with the lefties stuff," Realmuto said. " ... But also, I wasn't taking quality at-bats all the time. So, really just trying to hone in my approach against them and find the barrel more often -- and I've been able to do that the last couple months."

Overall, Realmuto is hitting .326 since June 1. That not only leads the Phillies, but it ranks third across MLB.

"He's really swinging the bat well," manager Rob Thomson said. " ... He's using the field, he's pulling the ball in the air -- he's really having good at-bats."

Making Realmuto's turnaround even more impressive is the fact that it's come while playing nearly every day and managing the Phillies' pitching staff. Many players who are struggling at the plate can simply put in a ton of extra time in the cages or watching film, but Realmuto doesn't necessarily have that luxury.

Sure, he can afford some extra time here and there, but he's already devoting countless hours to watching film of opposing hitters, game-planning for his pitchers and taking part in daily pregame meetings with that day's starter, pitching coach Caleb Cotham and fellow catcher Rafael Marchán.

And the 34-year-old catcher is doing all that while logging more innings behind the plate this season than anyone else.

"It's really impressive, but it's a tribute to him because he stays in such great shape, he's so tough," Thomson said. "He's just a gamer. He goes out there every day and competes."

Even missing more than a month last season due to a right knee injury, Realmuto has logged more than 1,000 innings behind the plate than anyone else since joining the Phillies in 2019. He's caught 6,459 2/3 innings. Will Smith is second at 5,437 1/3.

"He really doesn't want a day off," Thomson said. "We have to kind of, at times, force him. But he's honest with us, so we'll get him the days off when it's needed."

That's why Realmuto was in the lineup on Wednesday, despite it being a day game after a night game. He'll have Thursday's off-day to rest, and he'll likely sit for Sunday's series finale against the Nationals to line him up to play all three games against the Mets next week.

The workload clearly hasn't slowed him down at the plate -- or behind it.

Of course, there's also the long-term outlook that Realmuto has to consider. He's set to be a free agent at the end of this season, along with teammates Kyle Schwarber and Ranger Suárez.

Realmuto, who turns 35 in March, is trying not to look beyond the next two-plus months.

"It's definitely in the back of your head, but for me, I just try to focus on winning," Realmuto said. "I've been here a long time. Obviously, I've enjoyed my time here.

"As long as we have a good season and we go win a World Series, everything will take care of itself."