The Philadelphia Phillies are off to one of their best starts in franchise history. They’ve had some bumps in the road with Trea Turner and now J.T. Realmuto on the injured list, but Philadelphia is 46-21 through 47 games with a 9.5-game lead in the NL East.
Backup catcher Garrett Stubbs also serves as the Phillies’ Chief Vibes Officer. He joined WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Audacy Sports Podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” to talk about the importance of learning how to win as well as why the Phillies’ clubhouse is the best in baseball.
"As a catcher? Wins,” Stubbs said when asked what the most important stat is. “How many times am I behind the plate and we win the game? I think that that should be and probably is the mentality of everyone on our team. When you’re in the lineup how can I help the team win that day?
“As a catcher, you have a lot of say in that. You have a lot of guidance in getting your pitchers through a game, getting hitters out. So keeping them off the board and then offensively putting us on the board. As a catcher, because of how much impact we have on the game, I think wins is the best stat.”
Stubbs preaches winning to his younger brother C.J., who is currently at Double-A Harrisburg in the Nationals’ farm system. While some players in the minor leagues are more focused on individual stats to make it to the big leagues, playing to win the game will have you in a pretty good spot.
“If you go out there and you try to win the game, you’re going to be playing the game the right way, you’re going to be doing the little things right,” Stubbs explained. “You’re going to be a full baseball player…
“If you’re just trying to hit a homer even if the guy’s on third base and all you need is a sac fly or a ground ball up the middle, you might get the homer every once in a while but if you prioritize just getting that run in. Or as a catcher if you’re only thinking about throwing the guy out at second base when there’s a runner at first so you’re calling heaters the whole time or something, that’s not the way to win a baseball game… If you’re prioritizing winning you’re going to get the best out of yourself.”
Experience is crucial in all sports, and that comes with learning how to win.
“Learning how to win is an actual skill. If you don’t prioritize winning in the minor leagues, when they come to the big leagues do they know how to win an actual baseball game?” Stubbs continued. “Because it doesn’t necessarily mean 4-for-4 or making some sort of individual stat pop. Winning a game can be a ton of different things and you can do it a ton of different ways at a player. I think that’s a priority.”
The Phillies’ clubhouse has rallied around Stubbs, but they’ve also all really rallied around each other. They truly care about each other and that shows on and off the field.
“Look, I don’t know what goes on in other locker rooms in the league, I just know what goes on in ours, and I can’t really imagine a better situation from individual players to coaches to teams to front office to ownership,” Stubbs said. “I think it goes outside of the locker room and really anybody who represents the Phillies in general. From the top down everyone’s a good human being.
“We all enjoy being around each other, which you can’t find very often, and we’re all from different parts of the world. We come from different backgrounds so to find a locker room where everyone enjoys hanging out with each other not just inside the locker room but outside the locker room going to team dinners and hanging out and actually spending real time with each other and getting to know each other on a personal level.
“I don’t think that happens everywhere. Maybe it happens somewhere else in the league. But I can’t imagine a better situation than being inside the Phillies’.”
That closeness among the team has helped the Phillies to an NL-best record through the middle of June. The Phillies have won 46 games so far this season and Stubbs has enjoyed every single one.
“There’s nothing better than winning a Major League Baseball game,” he said. “The best thing in the world is winning a Major League Baseball game. It’s really hard to do.”
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