Realmuto will give it his all this season

J.T. Realmuto wants to play 60 games for the Phillies this season, 540 innings, even those carnival-game innings, the ones starting with runners on second base.

He’ll catch if asked, play first base if asked, be the designated hitter if Joe Girardi can’t find anything else for him to do.

Sixty up, sixty down. He’ll even work through the playoffs should there be any for the Phillies, and he’ll do it at no extra charge.

After that?

Realmuto wasn’t answering that question, at least not specifically as he Zoomed with the press Thursday following an intersquad game in a quiet Citizens Bank Park. He knows his contract will expire at season’s end, that Matt Klentak spent heavily to acquire him last season via trade, and that the Phillies were prepared to pay him $10 million for the season. They’ll pay him $3.7 mil

lion instead, his fee for 60 games, not 162.

That’s business. But he knows he has the chance to be the first catcher in history with a nine-figure deal should he just stay healthy, throw out his usual percentage of runners and maybe use his catching powers to coax Vince Velasquez into an occasional sixth inning.

The question: Will that record contract come from the Phillies?

It’s a question that will not go away. It didn’t even go away Thursday after Realmuto politely requested that all questions flipped at him would be of the baseball variety. Baseball writers, though, know how to paint a corner, too. So they kept moving him back until he finally indicated a preference, if hardly a commitment, to the Phillies.

“My mind hasn’t changed one bit,” Realmuto said. “I love this organization. They’ve been great to me and my family since I showed up. From top to bottom, they are good people. And they care about baseball. That’s very important to me.”

That’s why Realmuto is so valuable, and why he will receive that record-breaking contract, whether the signed papers are notarized in Philadelphia or New York. He loves baseball, and it shows. Not every expiring-contract player at the only position in baseball that requires a suit of armor would be as determined to play every shift, knowing the potential risk to his future earnings.

“I’m here to play baseball,” Realmuto said, “and to focus on this team winning and getting to the playoffs.”

So he will do that, aware that every time he snuffs a would-be basestealer or plops a long ball into the upper deck, his contract status will become a postgame topic.

Joe Girardi caught for the Yankees, managed them, won a World Series with them, and was fired by them. So he knows how the game is played two suspension bridges from Broad Street. He also knows how the bidding will balloon should Realmuto just have his usual season. Yet through the Clearwater portion of camp, and in the last week of training in South Philly, Girardi has appreciated Realmuto’s spirit, $100,000,000 contract or not.

“The one thing I don’t have the luxury of having is having been around J.T. last year or the year before,” Girardi said. “But everything I’ve seen from J.T. from Day 1 of spring training is that he’s the same person every day. He’s happy to be here and to just go out and play and help the team win.

“When he came back from his arbitration, his personality hadn’t changed. He had a smile on his face when he walked through the clubhouse door. He’s a pretty happy-go-lucky, love-toplay, want-to-be-on-thefield type of guy. I would hate to see what he would be like if this was bothering him. Goodness gracious.”

Gracious, Realmuto was good last season, hitting .275 with 25 home runs, smacking seven triples and winning a Gold Glove. On day games following night games, Girardi could use him as a designated hitter. But every inning Realmuto doesn’t catch is an inning that could make a difference in a year when every victory will be vital. It’s why Bryce Harper, entering Year 2 of his 13-year commitment, has done everything but spring for a “Sign J.T.” billboard.

“I hope he owns a team one day,” Realmuto said, smiling. “Honestly.”

Harper doesn’t own the Phillies, but he is into them for $330,000,000, has John Middleton’s private number, and plays hard enough to be taken seriously when he says the front-office should be just as competitive.

If Realmuto were to make a long-term commitment, the Phillies would have as sturdy a two-superstar foundation as there is in the sport. Realmuto plans to make that clear in the next two-plus months, if not with his words, then with his competitive streak.

“I don’t see why I can’t start every game,” he said. “Maybe I wouldn’t be catching. But I could definitely see catching 50 or 55 games. I don’t know if Joe will let me do that. But the DH is in play and I can play first if Rhys (Hoskins) needs a day when he could DH.

“Joe obviously will have a feel for what he wants. But if it’s up to me, I’d play all of them.”

The Phillies have to make sure it doesn’t stop there.