Philadelphia Phillies Young Catcher Drawing Comparisons to Franchise Legend

One of the Philadelphia Phillies young catchers has been impressive so far, and that has caused him to draw comparisons to one of their franchise legends.

Detailed view of a Philadelphia Phillies hat and glove in the dugout / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies know they need to make some adjustments to their catcher position throughout the upcoming campaign.

After J.T. Realmuto's production offensively fell off a cliff late during the playoffs, the front office and coaching staff have already said their ideal situation would be playing him less during the regular season so he has more gas left in the tank for the playoffs.

That will require them having a backup who doesn't present a stark drop off in performance behind the plate and on offense, which could cause them to move on from fan favorite Garrett Stubbs and utilize former top prospect Rafael Marchan as the secondary catcher.

It will be interesting to see how the Phillies ultimately operate next year, especially with Realmuto scheduled to hit free agency after the season.

Beyond the 2025 campaign, that creates questions regarding what the future of that position will look like in Philadelphia.

Thankfully, it seems like they have another special one on their hands in Eduardo Tait.

Ranked as the Phillies' No. 5 overall prospect, the 18-year-old has impressed people within the organization, and has done enough already to earn a comparison to their franchise legend Carlos Ruiz.

"He's somebody I think every Phillies fan should know about ... He has a chance to have a hit-power combo. And obviously the catching position is a very difficult place to find offense. So a guy like that who works very hard, who's very smart and who has a chance to hit and hit for power is why we like him so much," Preston Mattingly, assistant general manager of player development, told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com back in March.

The parallels between Tait and Ruiz are similar.

Both were signed out of Panama and both have great arms that allow them to throw out baserunners, but at this point in time, there's a chance Tait becomes the better offensive player in his career if he continues to progress.

This past season, he slashed .302/.356/.486 with 11 homers and 73 RBI across the 79 Rookie Ball and Single-A games.

He will certainly be someone to keep an eye on during his minor league career.

Right now, he's not projected to reach Philadelphia until 2028, but if he continues to keep getting better and better, there's a chance that timeline gets moved up.