{"id":579965,"date":"2026-04-03T17:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/579965\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T17:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:15:11","slug":"phillies-j-t-realmuto-leads-mlb-in-stat-that-surprisingly-still-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/579965\/","title":{"rendered":"Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto leads MLB in stat that surprisingly still matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

If one day the ABS challenge system simply becomes a fully automated strike zone, the job of an MLB catcher will become very different.<\/p>\n

That day is not here yet, though, which means Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> backstop J.T. Realmuto still has a crucial skill.<\/p>\n

In the early going of the 2026 season, Realmuto leads all big league catchers in framing.<\/p>\n

He’s the only catcher so far to have earned 2 Catcher Framing Runs, with the metrics showing that Realmuto does a particularly good job of picking up extra strikes at the top of the zone.<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Explaining the absurdity of 2 MLB players named Max Muncy<\/a><\/p>\n

Now there might be some out there wondering why, even now, this might be important.<\/p>\n

The reality of the challenge system is that it can’t come into play all that often. A hitter with no one on leading off an inning isn’t going to challenge the first pitch of an at bat unless it’s a particularly egregious umpiring miss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That’s where a guy like Realmuto still comes into play.<\/p>\n

There’s a massive difference in expected outcomes between an 0-1 and a 1-0 count, and the same thinking applies for the difference between a 2-1 and a 1-2 count, for example.<\/p>\n

There are still strikes to be “stolen” by quality receivers behind the plate.<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0This Red Sox pitcher traveled an impossible path to the major leagues<\/a><\/p>\n

Sure, the challenge system may reduce the impact a handful of times throughout the game. If a hitter challenges correctly, it can erase what may have otherwise been a well-framed strike by the catcher.<\/p>\n

But in those early counts, which seem lower stakes but can still matter over the course of a game and of a season, the catcher’s receiving remains crucial.<\/p>\n

And Realmuto remains one of the best.<\/p>\n

More MLB news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If one day the ABS challenge system simply becomes a fully automated strike zone, the job of an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-579965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}