Phillies

Rafael Marchan is 2 for 31 to Start the Phillies Season

By Luke Arcaini

Published: Apr 21st, 2026 · 10:17 AM EDT

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If you’ve been locked in on the steaming-hot Flyers and haven’t paid attention to the Phillies, that may be a good thing at this moment in time.

The Phillies are 8-14 on the season. They’ve lost six in a row, 10 out of their last 12 games, and sit 7.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. The Phillies’ offense is 24th in OPS and pitchers have a combined 4.87 ERA, good for 28th in the sport.

The backup catcher position, as I’ve said for years, isn’t that important of a spot. Garrett Stubbs occupied the spot from 2022-2024, and Rafael Marchan took over the job last year. J.T. Realmuto will play, and has played, every playoff game since the Phils first got in a few years back.

Marchan did fine behind the plate in 2025. He had just a .587 OPS, but only played 42 games and was above average behind the dish. 2026 has been a different story. He’s 2 for 31 to start the year with just five total bases and one extra-base hit. He has struck out seven times, is hitting .065, and although he isn’t a qualified hitter, his baseball savant page is filled with blue. He’s been forced into a more consistent role with Realmuto dealing with a few nagging injuries over the last few weeks, and it hasn’t gone well.

Garrett Stubbs was DFA’d at the beginning of the season after not making the team out of camp. The Phillies looked into a Stubbs trade give him a spot in the major leagues somewhere else, but nothing went down. Stubbs returned to AAA on his split contract and is currently slashing .324/.452/.706 with 11 hits, 3 home runs, 8 RBIs, and 3 stolen bases.

Stubbs, a backup catcher, was, and still is one of the most polarizing players in Philadelphia. Between his “pool comments”(that didn’t have any effect on the 2023 NLCS), to his title of “Chief Vibes Officer,” it’s been a weird tenure in Philadelphia for the 32 year old.

What the Phillies need right now are players that are hitting the baseball. Don’t get me wrong; the backup catcher isn’t even close to the top of the Phillies’ list of problems at this moment in time. Their stars haven’t been good enough, their role players have been really bad, and nothing has clicked in 2026.

But Stubbs’ current OPS in AAA is 900 points higher than Marchan’s in the pros. Will that 1.000+ OPS translate to the majors for Stubbs? Probably not. But it may be worth a try with how the Phillies currently look at the plate, along with the unknown return of Realmuto.

Marchan is out of options, and with the current state of catching depth in the Phillies organization, the Phillies could be hesitant to DFA him with the risk of losing him to waivers.