J.T. Realmuto has skills that could one day make him a big-league manager originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
CLEARWATER, Fla. – J.T. Realmuto admits that he’s thought about the possibility. It intrigues him. Not now. But definitely someday.
“It’s kind of in my blood,” he said Monday at Phillies camp.
The subject was managing. As in, would he like to manage after his playing days are complete?
“It’s definitely something that piques my interest,” he said.
Zack Wheeler, who initially signed with the Phillies in the fall of 2019 in part because he wanted to pitch to Realmuto, believes his favorite catcher would be an excellent big-league skipper someday.
“A lot of good catchers make good managers,” Wheeler said. “Behind the plate, you’re always thinking about game situations. You’re running a pitching staff. Probably the biggest thing a manager does is run a bullpen. I think J.T. would do that well. He has so much experience.
“And he has presence. He has credibility. He’d be able to have conversations with people where he could be firm and be real with them, or he could be like the ‘cool dude’ coach.
“He’s the whole package.”
Manager Rob Thomson has frequently called Realmuto “a manager on the field.” That’s why Thomson was so pleased when the Phillies kept Realmuto on a new, three-year deal this winter.
“He just does so much for us, on the field and off,” Thomson said. “He’s a great leader.”
Relamuto and pitching coach Caleb Cotham run pregame meetings with pitchers, breaking down individual attack plans for each hitter the staff will see in a series. Realmuto is known for speaking freely in those meetings, offering opinions and strategies based on the video and data that he studies behind the scenes and what his eyeballs tell him in game action.
And when he talks, pitchers listen. Wheeler seldom shakes off a pitch that Realmuto calls. There is complete trust between pitcher and catcher. Realmuto puts down the fingers – or in this day and age, pushes the buttons — and Wheeler executes. And Wheeler, mind you, has been the best starting pitcher in baseball since arriving in Philadelphia, according to Fangraphs, which gives him a 28.6 WAR since the start of 2020.
“My position kind of gives me a PhD in managing a pitching staff,” said Realmuto, who will begin his 12th season as a big-league regular in 10 days.
Realmuto will turn 35 on Wednesday. It’s too early to tell if he will play beyond his new contract, but he’s certainly a lot closer to the end of his playing days than the beginning. While he’s completely focused on winning a World Series ring in Philadelphia before his playing career ends, he has given occasional thought to what comes next.
First would be some family time. Realmuto and his wife, Lexi, have four young children and he’s going to want to be Dad for a while.
But he knows, “I’m going to miss the game.”
So, maybe, when the kids get a little older, he’ll look to manage. If he does, he’ll be joining the family business. As a kid, Realmuto was coached by his dad, David, a former college baseball player at Southwest Missouri State. David also coached his daughters, J.T.’s sisters Ryan and Amanda, in softball.
Both starred at the college level. Ryan was a four-time all-Big 12 player at Oklahoma State before entering the coaching world at Hofstra and Rutgers. Realmuto’s coaching connections also extend to the wrestling mat. His uncle, John Smith, is a former U.S. Olympic gold medal winner and a Hall of Fame coach at Oklahoma State.
If he were ever to become a manager, Realmuto would look to blend the old with the new, the technology and science of today with the feel and instinct that has always been there.
“I think I’d be good at playing both sides, the analytics and the eyeballs,” Realmuto said. “I do that now. We have all the analytics, but I use my eyeballs to read swings. As a manager, you have to use both. You have to know when to follow your gut. Like, you could be walking through the clubhouse one day and say to yourself, ‘This guy just doesn’t have it. He doesn’t have any confidence. I don’t care if the computer says he’s the best guy. Right now, he’s not there.’ You have to have that as a manager.”
A manager also has to set a tone that maximizes player performance.
Realmuto has learned that from watching Thomson.
“The way he came in and handled that 2022 season,” Realmuto said of the Phils’ National League pennant-winning campaign. “He was a calming presence. He had a really good team. We knew we were a really good team. But we were putting a lot of pressure on ourselves early in the season and, sadly, Joe (Girardi) got fired. Topper came in and said, ‘Hey, guys, you’ve got to believe in yourselves. We can’t do too much. I believe in you. We’re going to get to where we want to go.’ At that time, we were (seven) games under .500, but there was no panic in him. Every day was just calm, giving us confidence. That’s a huge part of managing, bringing the best out of your guys and giving them confidence. That’s something I take away from Topper.”
From afar, Realmuto has admired Skip Schumaker, who managed Miami and is now in his first season leading the Texas Rangers.
“I like Skip a lot,” Realmuto said. “Just the way he goes about his business. He brings intensity without having to say anything. He holds his guys to a really high standard, you can tell. I’ve never spoken to him about it, but you can tell his guys respect that intensity, and I think that’s important in managing. You need to be a calming presence but you also have to hold your guys to a high standard and the whole team has to be pulling in one direction, no matter how many superstars you have, no matter how good your team is. If everyone is not pulling in the right direction, it can go to crap really fast.
“My theory is you need both a calming presence and intensity. You’ve got to be able to be there and be a guy’s buddy and have cool conversations, but you’ve also got to kick somebody in the ass when they need it.”
If Realmuto ever manages, there’s one thing he’d love to have on his team.
“I think it would be fun as a manager to have a young, up-and-coming catcher that I could work with and try to help and mold and teach things that were taught to me when I was young because not every catcher gets that,” he said.
The game sustaining itself. One generation touching another. It’s a beautiful thing.
But first, there’s the rest of Realmuto’s playing career. The 2026 Phillies are once again built on pitching and those pitchers will require their leader to put down the right fingers.
Down the road, though …
“It’s all a matter of timing, making it work with my family, and a team giving me a chance,” J.T. Realmuto said. “But I do think it would be fun to manage.”
