Phillies

The Veteran Impact of Garrett Stubbs is Showing in Triple-A

By Luke Arcaini

Published: May 12th, 2025 · 3:30 PM EDT

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Believe it or not, Garrett Stubbs just isn’t the team DJ.

I know that’s hard for a lot of you to understand. He doesn’t just DJ after wins. His pool comments back in 2023 weren’t the reason why the Phillies lost to the Diamondbacks.

Stubbs lost the battle between himself and Rafael Marchan mainly due to Marchan being out of options, and took his chance with the IronPigs and ran with it. Now? He’s mentoring the guys that will be on this Phillies team one day.

Stubbs caught Andrew Painter’s first start in AAA on Thursday night, and it seems like Anthony Contreras, the IronPigs manager, along with other people in the Phillies organization, want Stubbs to continue to catch the guys who have a future in the majors.

Painter flew through the first two innings of his start, then lost it a little bit in the third. He walked a few guys, and found himself in a bases-loaded, two out situation. Stubbs could tell that Painter was frustrated, and he went out to talk to him:

IronPigs catcher Garrett Stubbs wants Andrew Painter to learn to pitch through adversity as he prepares to be a major league pitcher. pic.twitter.com/rFPhe6FTPC

— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) May 9, 2025

Painter got out of the inning, and Stubbs was more fired up than Painter himself.

Mick Abel has been revived. A guy who had to take a bit of a break from baseball last summer has a 2.53 ERA through eight starts for Lehigh Valley this season with a 5-2 record with 51 strikeouts in 46.1 innings.

Guess who’s been mentoring him? Stubbs.

Abel’s issue the last few years has been his command. He walked 78 batters in 24 starts last season, which is over three per game. He’s now walking just over two, dropping his rate by a whole batter in 2025.

Abel dazzled again on Saturday. He went seven innings, allowing just one earned run while striking out nine and got 12 swing and misses on his fastball, topping out at 98.

Said Stubbs, via Anthony SanFilippo at On Pattison:

Prior to this year, I know people talked about him not performing to the level of expectations that people had for him – granted there’s some pretty high expectations for the kid, especially being a first rounder. But what I’ve seen from him this year in particular is a very confident demeanor out there. Everyone knows, the computers know, he’s got really good stuff, right? Once you have the confidence in the stuff, because that’s what the computers tell you, well that’s only one part of the game. At the end of the day, you have to compete on the mound.. I think he’s learned how to do that this year.

I haven’t even hit on Stubbs’ offensive numbers yet. He’s hitting .313 with a .418 on-base percentage and a .888 OPS in 83 at-bats in Triple-A this season. He has 26 hits, three home runs, and 22 RBIs so far this season.

What Stubbs is doing in Triple-A right now is far more than statistics. He’s mentoring the future of the Phillies rotation in Painter. He’s helping Abel, a once top prospect, get his confidence back. He’s continuing to work with all of the pitchers down in AAA, and is practically another in Lehigh Valley.

Say what you want about Stubbs. You can call him the DJ that isn’t good at baseball, but you’d be wrong.

Stubbs could’ve thrown a fit when he was optioned to AAA, gone about his business, and stayed quiet while waiting for his next opportunity on the major league team. Instead, he’s mentoring the future of the Phillies every single day, which deserves to be recognized.