SO, WHAT IS HE DOING OFFENSIVELY?
With a career batting average that has consistently played out around the .250 mark prior to the 2026 season, Realmuto has been regarded as one of the most consistent and complete offensive catchers. If we isolate the window of his All Star years (2018-2021) his numbers are even more impressive.
Highest batting average among everyday catchers (.278). • Averaged 19 HR and 73 RBI per full season
Produced an .820 OPS, where other catchers in the league generally sat around .700
Comparing him with other catchers through that stretch, Realmuto ranked: • 1st in batting average
2nd in Home runs (behind Salvador Perez)
2nd in RBIs (behind Salvador Perez)
Top 3 in OPS (behind Will Smith and Yasmani Grandal)
Overall, Realmuto was arguably the most complete offensive catcher in baseball from 20182021. Salvador Perez outslugged him, Grandal reached base more often, and Will Smith had a slightly higher OPS in fewer games, but no catcher matched Realmuto's combination of average, power, run production, durability, and consistency over the entire four-year stretch. Since these career peaks, there has been a slow decline in production by Realmuto. If we take some Statcast snapshots of the 2023 season and the 2026 season (below), it clearly show all post impact contact quality metrics are considerably falling, leading to the lower xOBA, xBA and xSLG. A gradual and sustained falling of numbers across these years that happen to align with him being 30yo in 2021. What is showing up overall so far in 2026 is that production is down across BA, OPS, barrel %.
This clearly show that the Just Baseball Pod 2026 rating- which was heavily influenced by offence- is justified with production down across many keys metrics.
