Garrett Stubbs (left) helped Brandon Marsh (right) turn his season around. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports Jeff Curry
When the Phillies were given a chance to add an extra position player to their active roster on Sept. 1, rather than bringing Otto Kemp or Johan Rojas back up, they opted to recall Garrett Stubbs from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
The Phillies will call up Garrett Stubbs when the roster expands to 28 players tomorrow. Dave Dombrowski explained why: pic.twitter.com/asJyT2BE18
— On Pattison (@OnPattison) August 31, 2025
The decision certainly had its critics, and we're not here to say whether the choice was right or wrong. But after Saturday's 4-2 Phillies win over the Miami Marlins, Brandon Marsh offered some insight into how respected Stubbs is in the organization.
After going 4-for-13 during the four games that the Phillies played in March to open the season, Marsh didn't record a hit in his next 29 at-bats. When a right hamstring strain landed Marsh on the 10-day injured list on April 20, he was hitting .095 with 16 strikeouts in 42 at-bats.
But since returning from the injured list on May 3, Marsh is hitting .302 over 285 at-bats. In his postgame interview with Scott Franzke and Ruben Amaro Jr. on NBC Sports Philadelphia Saturday, Marsh was asked if there was any specific adjustment he's made that's allowed him to turn his season around.
"I think just not thinking as much," Marsh acknowledged. "Just trying to trust the work that we do behind the scenes ... trust the preparation that we do with reports and stuff like that ... and just go out there and play ball like we have since we were kids.
"I maybe pressed a little bit too much at the beginning," Marsh continued. "I talked to some really cool people about just dealing with adversity and failure. And they helped me out a lot. And just really trying to simplify the game and make it as easy as possible, because it's a pretty tough game to play. But we love it."
Brandon Marsh talked in his postgame interview about how Garrett Stubbs helped him to turn his season around.
(Via @aokstott)
pic.twitter.com/eSj39n7O6O
Franzke then followed up on Amaro's original question and asked if there was anyone who specifically Marsh wanted to shout out as having given him great advice.
"I know everyone talks about this guy in a lot of good ways, but Stubby, man," Marsh revealed. "When I went down to Lehigh for those rehab games, he just got my head back in the game. He just leveled me out, and that's what guys like that do. He's an incredible asset to this team, and he helps out more than anyone knows. So yeah, shout out to Stubby."
The 27-year-old Marsh played in six rehab games with the Triple-A IronPigs between late April and early May, at which point he was reunited with Stubbs, who spent most of this season in the minors after having been the primary backup catcher for J.T. Realmuto the last three years. Evidently, a week or so back with Stubbs did the trick for Marsh.
In fact, On Pattison polled Marsh and six Phillies in an article published on May 21 about what makes someone a great clubhouse guy. Marsh mentioned Stubbs as one of the best clubhouse guys he's been with since joining the Phillies in August of 2022.
"Yeah, there's plenty," Marsh responded. "You got Schwarber ... you got Stubby ... you got Rhys Hoskins. There's a bunch of guys in here that are glue guys and that can also play very, very well out there on the field. But yeah, those guys really stuck out to me."
In addition to Marsh, Tanner Banks — who was only teammates with Stubbs for a few months last season — also mentioned the veteran catcher.
Rob Thomson reiterated earlier this week in Milwaukee that despite Stubbs' return, Rafael Marchán is still the backup to Realmuto. But while Stubbs being back may allow the Phillies to use Realmuto as a pinch hitter on days where he doesn't start at catcher and they don't want him to enter the game defensively, you get the feeling that the respect the Phillies have for Stubbs is as much of a reason for why he was chosen to come back as what he can provide on the field.
Again, it can be debated whether or not Stubbs occasionally pinch running and/or entering as a defensive replacement is worth using the extra roster spot on him. But the amount of respect that the 32-year-old has in the Phillies organization makes you think that whenever his playing career is over, Stubbs will have the opportunity to coach in the organization, if he chooses to go that route.
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