Phillies Sign Contact Hitting Catcher as J.T. Realmuto’s Hopes Dim

he Philadelphia Phillies made an intriguing free agent move on Friday.

Philadelphia could have a new catcher in 2026 with J.T. Realmuto still a free agent. Although the Phillies have shown interest in bringing back Realmuto, the veteran is still on the market and has interest from other teams.

With that, MLB insider Will Sammon of The Athletic reported on Friday that the Phillies signed catcher Mark Kolozsvary to a minor league deal, which includes an invite to major league spring training.

Kolozsvary is more of a depth option for the Phillies, as he would be a Triple-A catcher, but could also compete for the backup job. But the signing adds some insurance should Realmuto sign elsewhere this offseason.

Kolozsvary spent last season in the Boston Red Sox organization, playing mostly in Double-A, but did appear in Triple-A. He hit .253 with 5 home runs and 17 RBIs as he’s a contact-first catcher. But in seven games in Triple-A, he hit .455 with a home run and 8 RBIs, which showed his bat could translate to the higher levels.

The 5-foot-8 catcher is solid defensively and has appeared in 20 career MLB games. Kolozsvary last played in the majors in 2023 with the Baltimore Orioles, as he played in one game, but didn’t get an at-bat. He played in 10 games with the Cincinnati Reds in 2022, hitting .200 with 1 home run and 3 RBIs.

Phillies Focused on Adding a Catcher

Philadelphia has had a relatively quiet offseason, but the team is focused on adding a catcher, whether that’s Realmuto or not.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said on a Zoom call earlier this month that the team is looking at the catcher market.

Catcher is really our main focus,” Dombrowski said. … “I think as far as our everyday positional players, other than catcher, we’re pretty well set.”

Realmuto has been with the Phillies since 2019 and is a key part of the core. Yet, no deal has been reached, despite Dombrowski saying the two sides continue to talk.

“We continue to stay in contact. But probably not a lot different than where we’ve been in the past,” Dombrowski added. “So we just continue to grind along and see if we can come up with a solution. We’ve talked consistently about trying to sign J.T. and we remain that way. But, you know, we haven’t been able to get it done so far.”