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Twelve Hours Later and Still No One Knows What the Hell J.T. Realmuto Was Thinking
By Matt Schultz
Published:
The Phillies blew their game against the Dodgers on Tuesday night in what could end up being the definitive dumbass loss of the MLB season.
Here’s how it went, in short:
Bottom of the ninth, Phillies down one, one out, man on second (J.T. Realmuto) and third (Justin Crawford, pinch running for Alec Bohm). Brandon Marsh hit a dribbler to third. Crawford ran on contact and got caught in a rundown between third and home. Not great, but it happens. Sometimes aggressive baserunning bites you in the ass, but at least the Phillies had another out to play with. Until they didn’t. Things got much, much dumber when Realmuto – who was standing safely on third – decided to run back to second base, where he was easily tagged out:
I still don’t get it. I don’t understand what J.T. was thinking. Look at where he was: how could this guy safely standing on third end up being tagged out at second?
Clearly Kyle Schwarber couldn’t fathom it in real time, either. He looked very confused and upset. Kind of feel bad for him seeing his reaction:
Don Mattingly also didn’t understand what the hell was happening:
“I don’t know what J.T. was thinking there, honestly. Like cause he got to third, it’s really what you, with contact on, is hoping Craw stays in it long enough to get Marsh to second, and you end up in the same spot. Yeah, I’m not quite sure what he’s thinking. I don’t know if he thought Craw was gonna get back, or if they were gonna let him get back. But it’s something we’ll talk about.”
And J.T. himself didn’t offer any insights, either:
“Uh, yeah, it was just a bad baserunning play, really. We were going on – seeing it through there, and once Craw gets in the rundown I’m on third base, there’s no reason for me to go back to second. Just a lack in judgement. Can’t make two outs on that play.”
It’s hard not to overreact to something like this. The Phillies are a talented team. Like every team, they have their flaws, but this roster is good enough to make you think a deep playoff run is possible – on paper. But in reality, in the actual games, there always seems to be something preventing them from ever feeling like an actual, real contender – and it’s been all the same stuff for years now. They don’t hit when they need to. Their manager – first Rob Thomson and now Don Mattingly – makes questionable decisions at the worst times. And over and over again, the team’s baseball IQ is proven to be way lower than it should be.
I’m not saying this dumbass loss will make or break the season – it’s one game in 162. But if and when this Phillies season ends, something tells me we’re going to look back at this dipshit baserunning moment and say, “Yeah, of course. This team’s just not that good. We should’ve known then.”
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com