Phillies Make Puzzling Decision for Wild Card Roster

The Philadelphia Phillies revealed their Wild Card roster on Tuesday morning, and it featured a rather puzzling inclusion: catcher Rafael Marchan.

The Phillies are bringing all of J.T. Realmuto, Garrett Stubbs and Marchan for their best-of-3 series against the Atlanta Braves, which begins Tuesday afternoon.

Philadelphia's decision to carry three backstops is strange, to say the least.

The Phillies are going with 12 pitchers and 14 position players, so perhaps Philadelphia felt there weren't any other options outside of Marchan.

But Stubbs has been Philly's best backup catcher all season long. Marchan, on the other hand, slashed .099/.137/.165 with two home runs and six RBI over 95 plate appearances in 2026. We also know that he is not exactly a speed demon.

Marchan has been up and down with Philadelphia's big-league squad since 2020, so he certainly has experience. Throughout that time, he has slashed .202/.259/.326 with nine homers and 32 RBI across 334 trips to the dish.

I guess the Phillies can argue that Marchan is in the mix in the event of injury to one of Realmuto or Stubbs, and it is just a three-game series, so perhaps it won't be that big of a deal. But it does speak to the lack of depth Philadelphia has overall.

It should also be noted that the Phillies will be without second baseman Luis Arraez, who suffered a sprained ankle late in the season and was omitted from the Wild Card roster.

Philadelphia acquired Arraez back at the MLB trade deadline and watched as he transformed the lineup in August, although the Phillies' offense went back to becoming incredibly frustrating in September.

Philly went just 10-14 during the final month of the season and narrowly avoided a catastrophic collapse, holding off the charging Arizona Diamondbacks by beating the Tampa Bay Rays to clinch a playoff spot on the final day of the 162-game campaign.

The Diamondbacks did end up losing to the San Diego Padres anyway, so even if the Phillies lost their season finale, they would have clinched, but there is no question Philadelphia backed its way into the playoffs.

The Phillies will now face a Braves team against which they went just 4-9 during the regular season. Jesus Luzardo will take the mound for Philadelphia in Game 1, although he may be on a strict pitch count after his recent shoulder injury.

Meanwhile, Chris Sale will toe the slab for Atlanta.

Game is at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon.