The Philadelphia Phillies are ushering in a change of the guard at backup catcher for the 2025 MLB season.

Phillies: Garrett Stubbs loses backup catcher battle

According to CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson, Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs has been sent down to the minor leagues:

“The Philadelphia Phillies optioned reserve catcher Garrett Stubbs to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Thursday, clearing the way for Rafael Marchán to serve as J.T. Realmuto’s backup,” Anderson reported.

Phillies more confident in Marchan over Stubbs

Stubbs had a .286/.423/.381 slash line with four RBIs in Spring Training. Marchan had a .250/.357/.292 slash line with three RBIs. Despite the former playing more efficiently at the plate, the latter in Marchan was perfect on defense with an 1.000 fielding percentage compared to Stubbs’ .980 percentage with one error committed.

However, since the Phillies’ new backup catcher was out of minor league options, Philadelphia opted to give him the nod for Opening Day over Stubbs to preserve depth at the position, as MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams noted. Stubbs will get a chance to start the year in Triple-A. Though, the 31-year-old could likely see his way back onto the Phillies’ big league roster down the line in 2025.